Your time has not come yet
by Evanescentwarrior
Summary: After the final fight with Melbu Frahma, Rose thinks she has finally obtained eternal peace. Unfortunately, fate seems to have other plans for her: there's one more task to accomplish, one more ordeal to sustain before obtaining the eternal rest she seeks. However, she won't be alone this time...
1. Prologue

**A (yet) nameless Legend of Dragoon fanfiction**

**Prologue**

Dark and still. That was all Rose's mind could feel around her. Not even the slightest noise could be heard in that space out of time, that welcoming void which had embraced her right after everything had come to an end.

_Am I dead, at last? _ She asked herself, unable to feel her body.

Maybe it was really over, after all those years of suffering. Maybe that eternal rest she had sought for so long had finally been granted to her tired soul. Yet, in the middle of that darkness, there was something missing. Something _wrong_, that prevented her from stopping those incoherent thoughts that kept wandering in her tired mind.

_Zieg…_ she thought all of a sudden, and a mostly vivid image of their last moments violently popped out in front of her. After all they had endured, they had chosen to put an end to their eternal enemy's madness by joining together in a final, crushing blow. They had left that world for whom they had fought for so long, sacrificing their very souls in order to stop the wingly who had tried to conquer every living thing with his enormous magic power.

Melbu Frahma. That hated name echoed through her mind, bringing back wounds that, even after eleven thousand years of lonely wandering and suffering, were still fresh and painful. He had tried to ruin people's life, and their in particular, to the very last by taking control of Zieg's body and becoming the God of Destruction himself.

But all of that was already gone now, and all that remained was that darkness.

Was Zieg there, too? Rose couldn't be certain of it. The place all around her was not in the least what she had thought heaven to be like. Or hell, for instance. Honestly, she considered, as her mind kept drifting away from thought to thought, it was the latter she deserved. In her way too long live she had taken so many innocent lives, crushed so many hopes and dreams that it was impossible to think of another destination for her soul. However, she had hoped that she could have lived at least one last and perfect moment of harmony with the friends she had lost long ago, those brave warriors who had perished to assure freedom to humans. She had longed for a last moment with Zieg, the man she had loved so desperately and that had been torn away from her.

Judging from the look of things, her fate had been once again different.

Tired of mumbling over her past, Rose tried to move; still, that darkness appeared so thick that every single movement was merely impossible.

The woman found herself smiling: she was constricted in her own element, the one whose powers she had harnessed for her whole life. Kind of hilarious, she thought passively.

Time seemed to inexorably fade away, but there she was, always immerged in that endless obscurity.

Suddenly, just when Rose was starting to actually feel comfortable in that nothingness, a blinding light shattered the black veil that had covered everything until that moment.

She blinked twice, finding it impossible to resist such a heavenly stream of pure white, but every effort was in vain. That light pierced through her carefully lowered lids, nearly making her regret the earlier darkness.

_That is surely more heavenly-like, _ she thought confusedly, but she immediately stopped when a soft, harmonic voice chanted through her head.

_The time of your departure has not come yet, Darkness Dragoon._

_Dragoon? No more, _thought Rose, trying to figure out who was addressing her in such a way. She had ceased being a dragoon as soon as life had stopped flowing through her body. Although the question, at that time, was another: time of departure? Wasn't she already _dead,_ for God's sake?

_There is one more task that requires your presence. That is why you cannot leave this world yet. Only you can do this._

Rose opened her eyes, too shocked to bother of the blinding light that continued to shine from everywhere.

_Another task…as if spending eleven thousand years preventing the birth of the God of Destruction isn't enough, _she thought bitterly. What was this new task, now? All she wanted was a peaceful death, not some new reason to still walk on that world which she had come to love and hate, albeit for different reasons.

_Worry not, at the end of this ordeal you will be able to rest forever, along with the ones you love. _

After these last words, the light seemed to slowly fade and darkness returned. This time, however, it was different: Rose began to feel her body again. Slowly she saw her slender legs, one of them enclosed in a high boot which ended just at the middle of her thigh; her dark armor, decorated with gold trimmings; her choker, the object which had permitted her to live eleven thousand years and still look like a young woman in her late twenties. Lastly, her rapier.

She briefly closed her eyes, sighing quietly. _I've grown tired of waiting for this "eternal rest"…_

_At least, this time you won't be alone._

A last echo of the words spoken by that mysterious voice filled her mind, and she was just beginning to wonder what their meaning could be when she suddenly opened her eyes and found herself in Vellweb.

It was night, and moonlight lit dimly the remnants of that ancient human city, the city where she had lived, alongside with the others, when the Dragon Campaign had took place.

_So many memories…_ she thought nostalgically, glancing at the seven towers that stood in a circle overlooking an empty space. Each one of them nothing more than a ruin.

A cold wind streamed through her dark, long hair, as she turned to her left. She almost staggered back when she saw that she was not alone.

Just a few steps away from her was a tall figure clad in a glorious red armor, his blond hair flowing in the night breeze as he silently watched Vellweb and remembered what had had place there in a distant past. He seemed to notice Rose's astonished glance and turned towards her. For a brief moment their eyes met and locked in a warm, loving look, then he broke into one of his grins and just stood there, cross armed, bold and handsome as ever.

Rose didn't move either, trying to figure out if that was a dream or, actually, reality.

"Well, aren't you even gonna say hello?" Murmured Zieg softly, bending his head a little.

Rose smiled: "Then it really is you, no doubt."

The two finally joined in a warm hug, and Rose buried her face into Zieg's wide chest. This was something she had longed for at least the last eleven thousand years, ever since that terrible day when her loved one had been turned to stone by Melbu Frahma.

They stood like that, at the top of a forgotten city, while the moon looked down at them with its cold glare.


	2. Chapter 1

Hello, everyone! I wish you a happy new year! I spent these days working on Chapter 1, and here it is. I wanted to tell you this in the first part I posted, but I kind of made a mess and it ended up as a review. Don't ask, I don't know what I did myself. Anyway, I'm Italian and thus I'm not writing in my own language so there will probably be many mistakes…but consider I did my best. I'm writing in English because I really love this language and all I want is to develop even more my grammar and general knowledge, so every single advice is really welcome!

Thanks in advance, happy reading!

Chapter 1

Vellweb hadn't changed much since the last time Rose had been there. Everything was just a mere ruin, she noticed as she slowly climbed the irregular stone steps which led to her former home, the Darkness Dragoon tower. Zieg was by her side, deeply absorbed into his memories. He gently placed an arm around her waist and gave her a curious look, flashing one of his usual grins. Rose smiled a little, still surprised for the way things had turned out.

"I can't believe I'm really here, with you at my side after such a long time." Said Zieg in a whisper. He looked just like the day his sword had pierced Melbu Frahma's heart, his bold face unchanged by the cruel flow of time.

"Me neither…" Replied Rose with a sudden sigh. She remembered all too well how everything had ended, Zieg's decayed body stranded on the harsh soil of the Moon that Never Sets just before its explosion. They had bid farewell to the others, to Dart and their fellow Dragoons, determined to leave that world which was no longer theirs. Being there now was very weird, even more because she could still feel that hateful weight over her soul. All the lives she had taken, even thought for a good cause, were too much to bear.

They finally reached the summit and Zieg leaned over the stone banister overlooking the area below. His eyes gazed at the moon above them, no longer a threat but still not a pleasant sight.

"I wish you hadn't endured all this, Rose. I really can't even imagine how you've felt during all these years, alone and with the only goal to murd-" Zieg began, but the woman immediately shook her head interrupting him.

"Stop that, there's no need to bring back… such memories. It all belongs to the past. Besides, you don't have to feel bad for a choice I made."

Zieg turned to look at her deep, black eyes: "Was it really a choice? No, you had to. You were the only one left, everyone of us had died and you basically had no other choice but to accept your faith. If only Melbu Frahma hadn't chosen my Dragoon spirit as his hideout, maybe that day in Neet things would have turned out differently."

Rose's lips curved into a bitter smile: "Yeah, of course. You would surely have been happy to find me killing the people you lived with, those innocent children, even your wife…"

Zieg slowly bent over her pale face, never leaving her eyes: "She's part of the past, too. You know, even thought I never stopped loving you I don't regret having married Claire. When I woke up in a totally different world, realizing that thousands of years had passed and that presumably everyone was gone, I was on the verge of insanity." He stopped for a moment, his expression turning into a painful one. "She was the only thing that saved me, back then. She gave me a reason to go on living, even if everything I had fought for was gone long ago. Then Dart came, and he most likely brought some more spirit to my tired soul."

Rose stared at his icy blue eyes: "I could never blame you for what you did. It was the right thing, you found something that let you forget the past, that allowed you to go on."

"Forget?" Murmured Zieg placing his hands on her shoulders. "How could I have forgotten what all of us had been through? Do you think I was supposed to let everything fade, after all that pain and suffering? How could I possibly have forgotten _you, _Rose?"

"Zieg…" she murmured, but not even those awful thousands of years had been able to break their bond. As he slowly placed his lips on hers everything settled out, all those unspoken words lost their meaning. They were together, after all, and nothing else mattered.

When dawn's first rays started to light the east they were still together, in the highest edge of Vellweb. Rose shivered at the cold morning breeze, feeling as close to happiness as she hadn't been in ages.

"Well, what about this task we've been given?" She asked after a brief moment.

Zieg grinned and raised an eyebrow in response: "What, you don't know anything about it? Didn't that voice tell you?"

Rose furrowed her brow: "I'm clueless. I just know that we're here because there's still something we're needed for."

"I see." Replied Zieg, crossing his arms in a calm gesture. "Not that I know much either, but that voice told me that we were going to train a warrior."

"A warrior? What for?" Rose slightly widened her eyes, surprised. As much as she knew, Endiness's most fearsome enemy had been finally slain. There was no need for new warriors, even more because Dart and everyone else still had their Dragoon spirits and thus were always ready to fight in times of need.

"That's what I thought, too." Replied Zieg even before she could tell him her musings. "Apparently, something terrible is coming. Something that even the Dragoons wouldn't be able to fight back."

Rose shook her head: "Nonsense, I don't think there's such a thing. Besides, how could a warrior trained by us, a normal human being, obtain even more power than a Dragoon?"

"I think there's much more behind this. The voice said… that this warrior, as much as impossible it may seem, would have come from another world."

"_What?_" This time Rose stood up, disbelief painted on her pale face: "Another world? What are you talking about?"

Zieg shrugged, as if trying to figure out the meaning of those words himself: "That's what the voice said. Never actually heard of anything like that, and even thought it seems unreal… well, shouldn't we be dead right now?"

This time Rose didn't reply, too much shocked by the sudden revelation. Was there really another world? Another place inhabited by human beings? Why had she never even _heard _of it? It all seemed just a kind of dream, a fairytale told to children before putting them to sleep.

"Well, I guess we'll see, right?" Said Zieg at last, interrupting her thoughts. Rose looked at him and nodded. There wasn't much they could do, at the moment.

Waiting seemed the only option, so they spent their first day back in their world visiting the ruins of their past, from tower to tower.

It was only at sunset that something began to change. The day hadn't provided them with anything new: Vellweb was lonesome and empty, and visiting the places where their long lost friends had lived had just been able to dismay them.

At twilight, however, a sudden shriek filled the sky and Rose lifted her head, unable to believe at what she had just heard. That sound was all too familiar to her: it spoke of battles, of amazing flights in the sky above her, of someone that had been alongside her for so long but, in the end, had lost his mind. Rose had had to kill him, although only after a great suffering.

That sound, however, was unmistakable.

"Michael?" Said Zieg with a worried voice, scanning the area above.

"It cannot be…" whispered Rose, but when she saw the thin, black silhouette of something growing bigger and bigger as it neared them, she gave up all of her suspicions: it was her dragon, Michael.

The dragon performed a few rapid rolls and slowly landed next to them, spreading his enormous black wings and lifting huge amounts of dust in the process.

Rose slowly approached him, never leaving his crimson eyes as if to bring back the strong bond that once had joined them. When they had fought together to destroy the wingly cities, there had been no need for Rose to tell Michael what to do.

Their minds had been deeply connected, two beings merged into a single one as they had soared the immense skies.

Now, as the woman slowly advanced, the Black Burst Dragon observed her carefully. Just when she reached him, gently placing her hand on his scaly head, the dragon closed firmly his eyes and after a brief moment recoiled. Rose slowly lowered her arm, trying to read the dragon's expression. It was almost sad, and those huge eyes were somehow full of tenderness.

_You're not my master anymore, _they seemed to say. Yet, the dragon exactly knew whom he had belonged to for all those years, and was almost trying to say how grateful he was for that time spent together.

"Don't worry, I understand." Murmured Rose after a short silence. She could still feel the dragon's feelings, but knew that that immense creature was no longer her own. It was kind of sad, but she had got used to the idea of having lost him a long time ago.

"Rose."

She slowly turned towards Zieg, who had kept silent all the time, and noticed he was staring intently somewhere near the entrance of Vellweb.

"What is it?" She replied, joining him and trying to identify what had caught is attention.

At the entrance of that forgotten ruin she immediately saw an eerie light reverberating on the cold stone. Michael suddenly roared and lifted himself up with a vigorous beat of his wings, directing himself towards the end of the stone steps that led to the towers and sitting himself right there, as if to guard the place. The increasing dark of the night nearly concealed him entirely, and only a sharp eye could have noticed him from afar.

The light kept emanating a constant glow, then seemed to shimmer even more just before disappearing completely.

All that remained was a tall, slender figure as still as a statue.

Rose and Zieg looked at each other for a moment, unsure on what was going on.

"Is that supposed to be the soon-to-be-warrior?" Murmured Zieg, getting even closer to her. Rose only kept staring at that dark silhouette, concerned. From that distance she couldn't quite figure out the details, but it appeared to her like a young man dressed in the oddest clothes she had ever seen.

Weirdly enough, he kept not moving. Just when Zieg was about to move some steps towards him, he quietly opened his eyes and looked around him.

Rose grabbed Zieg by his forearm, gesturing him to keep quiet for a little more. The figure advanced, his steps barely audible on the barren soil. Now they could see him better: he was indeed a young man, with short, brown curly hair. He wore a red jacket, which was fairly normal, but it was his lower part that caught the two's attention: his legs were clad in a weird fabric, very tight and dark-blue colored. In addition, he had a pair of low, laced shoes the likes of which they had never seen.

He came forward, his face the image itself of confusion.

More worryingly, he was nearing the spot where Michael awaited at an unpleasant speed.

"Don't you think we should, you know, stop him?" Considered Zieg when it became clear the young man had absolutely no idea of the fate he was going to face in a few moments.

Rose, however, crossed her arms and leaned on the banister in a relaxed gesture: "He's supposed to be our warrior, right? Well then, this is his first ordeal."

Zieg grinned, placing himself beside her: "That's my Rose. I thought you had lost your personal way of being cruel during all these years, but apparently I was wrong."

The woman smirked, continuing to stare at the unfortunate young man: "I'm almost positive Michael won't eat him. On the other hand, he could and will get scared to death… but at least he'll be prepared."

Zieg sighed aloud, shaking his head and falling silent once again. The young man in the meanwhile had made his way to the top of the entrance, right where the stairs started. He was just beginning to climb them, when suddenly Michael made his triumphal appearance. He jumped in front of him, roaring as loud as he could and thumping heavily on the ground.

The poor one, at first, didn't even realize what was going on and just stood there, staring at that living death creature with childish innocence.

_Maybe he thinks he's dreaming,_ thought Rose. She could almost pity him, he would become accustomed to those kind of things very soon.

He seemed to understand his life was at a stake when Michael decided to act: he threw him on the ground and rose his menacing talons. The young man then decided to do the only thing he could: scream his heart out, piercing the quiet silence of the looming night.

It was then that Zieg and Rose interfered. Just as the woman approached, Michael silently stood up and left, joining again the sky and disappearing for the moment.

Zieg crouched himself next to the terror stricken young man and gave him his hand, trying to help him to his feet, but he just kept staring wide eyed at him as if he had been a horrid monster.

"You- you, w-who are y-you?" He stuttered, trying to recoil but miserably failing to do so: he hit a rock with his back and fell again on the brown earth.

"Hey, quiet, young lad. We're not going to harm you, stop trembling so hard." Exclaimed Zieg in a calm but stern tone, trying to calm him down. He, at first, didn't seem to get the advice, but when he understood that probably the two people trying to talk to him weren't blood-thirsty monsters he regained a bit of composure. He stood, trying to remove the dust from his apparently brand new clothes and carefully eying Rose and Zieg.

"Where…where am I? Who are you, and, more importantly, what the _hell _was that thing that tried to slaughter me?"

Rose tried her best not to shook her head in dismay. Probably that fool wasn't used to fights. More likely, he had never seen anything resembling a dragon before.

_The best of the other world,_ she thought ironically and exchanged a meaningful glance with Zieg. He shot her a let-me-handle-the-question look and turned his attention back to the young man: "We'll come to that in a little. Before you begin making questions, let me tell you some basic things. First of all, you're not daydreaming. This is reality, even thought it must look very different from the one you're used to."

"You bet!" Exclaimed the young man, then he saw the look on Rose's face and decided to keep his mouth shut.

"You see,"- went on Zieg –"You are in Endiness, another…world, we could say. I'm Zieg, and she's Rose." He said, holding out his hand. The young man looked at it for a little, then he resolved to shake it: "Matthew."

"Good, Matthew. I'll get straight to the point: if you're here, there's a reason. You've been summoned to this place because we're in need of a warrior. That warrior is you, you've been chosen."

"_Me?_" Matthew first looked at them with shock, then he burst out in a loud laugh. "That's a good one. Me, a warrior! I wonder what I have drunk last night… that must have been the worst drink ever." He shook his head and went on giggling.

Rose's short patience had already worn out: she took a few steps and pointed her rapier straight at Matthew's throat: "Let me show you how real is this dream of yours."

Matthew's laughter instantly faded. He stared at the sharp sword just a few inches from his skin, his eyes wide with terror. Zieg sighed and placed a hand on Rose's shoulder, but still she waited some more to lower her weapon.

Recovered from the shock, the young man abruptly shook his head:" You… you had told me you wouldn't have hurt me!"

"Stop acting like a frightened child." Snapped Rose in a menacing tone. Matthew lowered his gaze, finding himself unable to reply; he just stood there, under that glowing moonlight of a place whose existence he had probably never even heard.

Zieg, feeling a wave of sympathy towards that young man who had been dragged into something bigger than himself, gave him a reassuring smile: "We won't place a hand on you, but you really should listen what I'm gonna tell you. This is reality, and you're probably stuck into it for a long time."

Matthew's expression finally turned into a more serious one, as comprehension began to dawn on him.

"I… still can't believe this…" he muttered, stroking his hair absentmindedly.

"You'll better start doing it, we have no time to fool around." Replied Rose returning her rapier back to its original place.

Zieg landed a friendly pat on Matthew's shoulder: "Come, I'll explain everything in a moment, but let's find another place to talk."

The young man silently nodded, and the three of them turned towards Vellweb's entrance and began climbing down. At a certain point they took a small path to their right and found themselves in another area of that forgotten city. After having climbed various set of stairs, some of them set in a spiral that seemed to endlessly go down towards the earth's very core, they reached a wide space which differed greatly from the other places they had been to so far. Various torches where set around the area, which still retained that glorious echo from a distant past.

Rose looked up at the throne on the other side and had to firmly close her eyes for a split second. From that room, during the Dragon Campaign, emperor Diaz had guided them to human freedom. He had devoted his entire life to that goal, and with the help of the Dragoons his dream had actually become true.

_But, at what cost? _Thought Rose bitterly. During that long war thousands of humans had died, and in the very last battle in Kadessa, the wingly capital, even the mighty Dragoons had lost their lives.

Kanzas, Syuveil, Belzac, Damia, Shirley… and Zieg, petrified by Melbu Frahma's last spell. She had been the only one left alive, the only one that would have to face the hell that awaited her. Indeed, during that last fight the crystal sphere that Melbu always kept with him had shattered, letting loose something that would become Rose's worst nightmare. The soul of the Virage embryo, the 108th fruit of the Divine Tree, the God of Destruction.

That soul would hence have tried to join its body, the Moon that Never Sets: every 108 years it would have presented itself in the body of a child, named the Moon Child, and then would have tried to reach the Moon for the God of Destruction to be born. It had been Rose's duty to slain the Moon Child, to prevent the soul from joining its body. Thus, she had become the Black Monster for Endiness's people. In legends the Moon Child had become a blessing, a gift sent by Soa to bring peace and bliss to everyone; the Black Monster, on the other hand, had been seen as a plague that came to destroy the world's most precious blessing because he didn't want the happiness it would have brought.

Rose took a few steps towards the center of the room, lost in her memories. She had had to endure all of that, but still it hadn't been enough.

She had made a mistake, the last time the Moon Child had been born.

In that very room her identity had been revealed to Dart and the others, alongside with Shana's true nature. She still could remember the look on Dart's face, how stricken had he been from what he had discovered. From that moment it had been a constant freefall towards the end, where she had thought her life would finally have ended for good.

But here she was, still hurting herself with the thoughts of her past that still ached like an open wound.

"Rose."

That voice rapidly brought her back on earth. She turned herself and saw Zieg staring at her with a concerned look, his eyes full of comprehension. Beside him, Matthew still looked kind of puzzled.

She did her best to smile a little, shrugging off her uneasiness: "I'm fine."

Zieg knew better, but he said nothing nevertheless. He gestured Matthew to sit down wherever he wanted, did the same himself and started to tell him his long story. Rose just leaned on a pillar near them, preparing herself to listen for the hundredth time to what had become the legend of Dragoons.

8


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"Dragoons, magic…and I thought I had seen everything in my life…" Exclaimed Matthew, slowly shaking his head in disbelief.

Many hours had passed since they had entered the room. Zieg had told him everything, from the Dragon Campaign to the last fight with Melbu Frahma which had happened recently. The young man had listened carefully, all the sarcasm gone from his face. His expression had grown considerably troubled in the meanwhile, as he listened of humans who had slain dragons to acquire their spirit, in order to obtain the power to fight a war against creatures who could fly and harness magic.

"Such things doesn't exist, in my world." He said at last, trying to put everything he had heard together.

"Don't you have wars?" Asked Rose, questioningly raising an eyebrow. He glanced at her and nodded, still looking slightly frightened of her: "Yes, but… people in my word can't use magic. They fight with firearms, such as guns, cannons, tanks…"

Zieg and Rose stared at each other for a moment, as if unsure of what Matthew was saying. In the end, Zieg sighed: "I guess our worlds are very different. It doesn't matter, tough, I'm sure you'll have lots of time to tell us some stories when we won't be busy training."

"Training, right. You know, I sincerely haven't the slightest idea of what fighting is like. People in my world aren't used to these kinds of things."

"They don't fight? And what do you do against monsters?" This time it was Zieg who asked. It was all too strange to think of a world where there was no need of wielding a sword or a weapon of all sorts.

"I don't think we have the monsters that lurk in this place. However, there could be something even worse in my world…" Replied Matthew, frowning as if something had brought sad memories to his mind. However, after a few seconds he seemed to regain a quiet expression and shrugged: "Never mind, it was just a thought."

Zieg stood up and smiled cheerfully: "Well, I'm sure you'll turn into a wonderful warrior even thought you aren't used at this kind of life. Now, I think you've had too much for tonight, so go on and have some rest. I'll escort you to my tower."

Rose half smiled, amused: "And where is he going to rest, in the middle of the ruins?"

Zieg seemed to realize that there really wasn't anything resembling a bed there, but he didn't give up his grin: "We'll come up with something, I'm sure. Will you come too, Rose?"

"Maybe I'll check if there is something left down here, like some blankets." Was her reply. Zieg did his best not to burst out laughing and nodded, leading Matthew out of the room.

When they had left, Rose sighed and went to look in a small storeroom behind the throne.

_Like there could be anything left, after eleven thousand years…_ she thought mockingly, and found herself surrounded by barrels and sacks that had probably contained food but now where miserably empty. Not that she had had great hopes of finding anything. She had probably proposed to look for something there to leave Matthew alone with Zieg for a moment. She had scared him too much, that he hadn't been able to relax for a moment under her gaze. It wasn't what she had wanted, but his acting like a tearful child had really got over her nerve.

Kneeling over, she spotted a sack that looked full. Maybe Matthew could use that as a pillow, since it seemed full of sand or something like that. She took it, then she tore apart another one which was empty and shook it to remove the remnants of what had once been inside of it.

_Pillow and mattress, everything a man could ever need for a comfortable sleep._

She shook her head at her own sarcasm and started leaving the room. She and Zieg had better to go to Deningrad next morning, or else their brand-new warrior would have died of either hunger, thirst or cold before they could even notice.

Zieg and Matthew reached the Red-Eyed Dragoon's tower and stopped at the entrance. The young man turned around him and shot a glance at the moon up above, dazzled by its light.

"It's all so quiet here… it never happens, in my world. Even at night, cities never sleep. There's always noise, flashing lights…" He murmured, more to himself than to others.

Zieg crossed his arms and looked at him, surprised. He was quite different from the man he thought he had met just a few hours before. He had probably been very shocked to behave that way, like a frightened child, as Rose had promptly addressed him. Now, he looked like a calm, reflective and sensible person who was just beginning to discover the world around him. Yet, in his eyes Zieg could see an inner sadness that remembered him of his old self, back when the winglies still ruled humans and he was nothing more but a powerless being.

"Is that woman mad at me for some reason?" Matthew asked suddenly, bringing Zieg back from his meditations. He raised his eyebrows, amused: "What makes you think so?"

"Well…" He began, unsure of what to say: "The way she attacked me before, it wasn't really friendly, don't you think?"

Zieg smiled and said nothing, at first. His eyes wandered through the dark ruins of Vellweb, seeing them as they had once been, when their friends were still alive.

"She's not mad at you, it's her own way." He said in the end. Matthew looked at him, puzzled, but waited for him to go on.

"She only wants you to do your best, without complaining too much of your own faith. She's not in the least a mean person, I'm sure you'll come to understand this on your own very soon." Concluded Zieg with a brief smile. The young man nodded, quite uncertain of what Zieg had said, but still he said nothing. They stood silent for a while, and Matthew often shivered in the night's cold breeze.

In the end Rose made her way to the tower, carrying along what she had found.

"It was the best I could get, tomorrow we'll provide you with something better than this… and possibly with new clothes, too." She said, once more analyzing Matthew's outfit.

He shot a glance at his own clothes and frowned: "Why, what's wrong with these?"

Rose shook her head and said nothing, carrying the sack inside Zieg's former tower. Matthew looked at Zieg, but he just shrugged in response: "She's right, your clothes aren't fit for fighting. Now, go and have a few hours of rest."

The young man nodded and went into the tower just as Rose left it. He widened his eyes, staring at the half crumbled walls and at his newly made bed with dismay, but he wisely decided to keep his mouth shut. He waved them goodnight and threw himself under the pseudo-blanket Rose had gotten him, trying to warm himself a little.

Rose and Zieg slowly left the tower and returned at Vellweb's entrance, both lost in their own thoughts. Suddenly Zieg stopped, glancing at Rose as if he had remembered something: "Hey, aren't you tired?"

The woman seemed to think about it, then she shook her head: "No. Neither hungry or anything like that."

"It's the same for me." Mused Zieg aloud.

Rose looked at her hands, concerned: "Maybe we're not completely alive…"

As in response, Zieg suddenly seemed to emanate a bright, red light and his body vanished.

"Zieg?" Exclaimed Rose, momentarily blinded by that weird light. When it ceased, all she saw in front of her was a white bird, his wings and down feathers as red as a burning fire. She held out a hand, surprised, and the bird placed himself upon it. It seemed like he was calling for her.

She closed her eyes and tried to feel something different inside herself. It took just mere moments: a dark light enveloped her body and she turned into an exact copy of the bird Zieg had turned into, only smaller and with dark violet feathers.

As she landed on the banister, near Zieg, she immediately felt the flow of his thoughts. The looked at each other, unsure of what had just happened.

_Can you feel me, Rose?_ Heard the woman in her mind, as clear as if Zieg had talked aloud.

_Yes… it's just as if our minds were connected, _she thought, and stared at her new shape with mixed feelings. What of her body?

_Well, at least we have wings._

With that said, Zieg took off to the black sky above, spreading his red-tipped wings boldly. Rose immediately followed him, suddenly remembering how beautiful it was to feel immersed in the atmosphere, with no constraints, one with the wind.

_They're not Dragoon wings, but still._ She thought, flying beyond Zieg with grace and speed.

They spent much time like that, flying as high as they could, free as they had never been. It was weird, for Rose, to have her mind clear of worries. For once in her long life, she felt almost at peace.

In the end, as dawn neared, they landed near the Darkness Dragoon's tower and, at the thought of their human bodies, they reverted back to their original shape.

They looked at each other and smiled, overwhelmed by what had just happened. Zieg grinned enthusiastically: "It must be some kind of payoff, don't you think? Amazing."

Rose nodded, still feeling slightly stunned by the sudden change in her body: "You're right, we were allowed to return here, but not as normal human beings. It seems like a kind of prize before that eternal rest we've been looking for."

"Not bad. Not bad at all." Said Zieg placing an arm around her waist. Rose smiled and quickly released herself from his grasp: "I'm going to Deningrad to get him something. I'll fly, it won't take long."

"I'm coming with you." He replied, but the woman shook her head.

"You can't, if Matthew wakes up and finds himself all alone here he'll have a mental breakdown. You have to stay here."

Zieg seemed to think about it, then he sighed and raised his hands: "You're right, as always. But be quick," he added with a grin: " I wouldn't want you to get lost."

Rose shot him a rather amused look and turned back into a bird. In a few moments she was already soaring sky-high above Vellweb, towards the Snow Fields and Kashua Glacier, all the way to the Evergreen Forest and, beyond that, Deningrad.

Zieg watched as she quickly disappeared from his sight, feeling already that there was something missing without her. It was no use, she had taken away his heart long ago, and no matter what happened, it would always belong to her. He quietly returned to his former tower, determined to check if his new pupil was already up.

He wasn't. He slept soundly, completely covered by that sack Rose had found him.

Zieg quietly shook his head: he had a lot to learn. He sat down next to him, took him by a shoulder and shook him firmly.

Matthew nearly jumped out of his bed, quick as a snake.

_Talk about quick reflexes, _thought Zieg smiling.

"Good morning, young lad. Slept well?"

Matthew, kind of confused by the rough awakening, rubbed a hand through his hair and nodded: "Uh, yes, I think so. Is it morning already?"

Zieg, in response, glanced at the window on his right: "Dawn."

The young man took a few steps and peered out of the curtain-less gap in the wall. Golden rays colored the east, giving the ruins an eerie atmosphere. Matthew found it beautiful and just stood there, amazed: "Not that I have seen many of these in my life."

"You'll experience many new things during your stay here. As soon as Rose returns, we'll be starting your training."

Matthew nodded, although Zieg was sure he could see doubt in his eyes. Fear, maybe.

"You came to terms pretty quickly with what happened to you, it seems." He commented after a brief silence.

The young man looked at him, a bitter expression on his face: "Well, I think this could actually be better than my real life… the one I live in the other world, I mean. Here, I actually have something to do. There's something that requires my presence, and that just never happens to me in my ordinary life. I always feel like a burden."

Zieg nodded: "I see. I understand how you feel, I've been through something like that myself. Don't worry about it right now, just free your mind and do your best."

Matthew didn't reply, still staring outside as light filled the world.

Rose landed in the outskirts of Deningrad and, unseen, reverted to her human form. She doubted anyone could have recognized her, but still she didn't want to push her luck so she avoided the most crowded streets.

As she wandered, she realized that it hadn't been much since their last fight together had occurred: although the city was shiny and clean as ever, a sharp eye could have noticed that they were still suffering from an attack happened not so long ago. The citizens still remembered clearly the Divine Dragon's wrath, when he had descended the mountain where he had been kept for thousand of years to destroy their quiet lives. The magnificent Crystal Palace had shattered under its mighty cannon, its beauty destroyed into a thousand little pieces. Rose could still remember the chaos that had reigned all around, back then. Miranda's worry for Queen Theresa's faith, Dart's anguish for Shana.

_Miranda…she's probably still at the palace, serving as a Sacred Sister,_ Rose thought, as she glanced at the high building. Although they hadn't been close friends, she had always respected her as a woman who knew what to stand for. She would have been glad to see her again, but that was impossible. For them, she was dead. It was better that way, probably.

Skipping from such thoughts, she entered a small shop in which she could have purchased everything she needed. There were only a few people hanging around, discussing on which weapons was safer to buy for some kind of journey.

Rose approached the counter and asked for a pillow, some blankets and enough food to satisfy Matthew's appetite for the time being. She also found some comfortable, cheap clothes and a nice broadsword which would have served just fine for the training. She wasn't going to personally train him, for sure. He looked a lot like Zieg, probably shared his same element and would have had the same fighting style. It looked like her job wouldn't have been that difficult, in the end.

"You going on a journey too, babe?" Asked one of the men Rose had heard talking earlier, slowly approaching her. She shot him a cold glare, not bothering herself to answer. She paid everything and left the shop without a glance. The man looked at her and frowned, then stared at the shop owner as if to question him on her behavior. He just shrugged, returning to his usual occupations to indicate that he wasn't interested. The man, after a brief moment, left without saying a word.

Soon after, Rose left Deningrad. With what she was carrying, she couldn't transform into a bird and would have had to walk all the way to Vellweb. It would have taken a couple hours, at least, but she knew her way and lost no time in fooling around.

At a certain point, just when she was leaving Kashua Glacier, she stopped. She quietly put down her packages, closing her eyes as she placed her hand on her rapier.

There was something wrong, someone was following her.

And was pretty bad at not being discovered, it seemed.

Suddenly someone leaped behind her, holding an axe above his head as if to crush her with a mighty blow. Rose quickly sidestepped and that poor idiot fell on the hard ice beneath. The woman nailed him to the ground, keeping her rapier just a few inches from his throat. He watched at her wide-eyed, probably still unable to understand that his feeble assault had failed even before really beginning. His face was distorted by terror, yet he looked like he couldn't even holler a small plea.

Rose recognized the man from the shop and looked at him, surprised.

"What do you want? Why were you following me?" She asked, her voice as cold as the icy hair around.

He tried to say something, then gulped anxiously before trying to stutter something incoherent: "I-I-'mm not…Let m-me go, p-please! L-lady…"

Rose sighed, still leaving her sword in that threatening position: "Answer me, or I swear this blanket of snow will be terribly bloodstained."

The man, if possible, became even more terrified. Rose, however, wasn't in the mood for mercy and just glared at him.

"I…I'm sorry, I just thought you were acting odd in that shop…and, uh, I followed you." He babbled at last, dripping with sweat even thought it was extremely cold.

_So stupid…_ Thought Rose shaking her head. She rapidly swung her rapier, cutting a lock of the man's hair as he finally let out a high-pitched scream. She stood, looking at him with pity: "Go away, consider yourself lucky."

He looked at her in amazement, and stood so still she thought he had turned into an ice sculpture. Eventually he came to life, and got to his feet with extreme speed. He blinked twice, as if to make sure he still was really in one piece, then turned himself and started running all the way through the snow-filled ground. He even managed not to fall and break his spine in the process.

Rose silently watched his clumsy escape, not knowing whether to feel amused or saddened by his stupidity.

Deciding she had lost way too much time, she took back her packages and resumed her walk. Upon leaving Kashua, she turned back for the last time and saw something sitting up in the ice where the man had fallen.

He had even left his axe behind.

Finally Rose let a smile creep across her face and left that place, her boots making thin footsteps on the soft blanket of snow as she entered the last trait of her journey.


	4. Chapter 3

Update! Sorry if it took me so long to finish this one, but January is a God-awful month in school…

If someone is actually reading this, thanks so much! Happy reading!

Chapter 3

It took Rose a few hours to get back to Deningrad, but eventually she made it before noon. Zieg and Matthew saw her coming from their elevated position near the Red Eyed Dragoon's tower entrance, where they had been discussing about some fighting tactics.

"Looks like she found everything you needed." Said Zieg with a smile. Matthew nodded, glancing at the packages Rose was carrying. Something she was holding immediately caught his attention: a broadsword, its long blade silver with a small golden decoration right near the hilt.

Zieg saw what he was staring at and grinned: "That looks like your weapon."

"It looks amazing." Replied Matthew with a quite satisfied expression, and for the first time since he had arrived, he seemed almost at peace.

Rose joined them in a few seconds, unloading on the ground her bearings without looking the least fatigued from her quick trip.

"How was your journey?" Zieg gently questioned her.

She gave him a brief smile: "Delightful. I hope I didn't keep you waiting."

"Not at all. Matthew, however, seems to be very eager to begin with his training."

Rose glanced at the young man, slightly raising an eyebrow. Surprisingly he didn't lower his eyes like the previous times she had turned her attention on him.

_He's already making progresses,_ she thought ironically, and then stepped forward. With a quick gesture she handed him a bag: "Happy to hear that. Here, your new clothes."

He glanced at the bag for a moment, then took it with a smile: "Thanks, I'll put them on immediately."

With that, he entered the tower and momentarily left them alone.

Zieg approached Rose, a wide grin all over his face: "See? He's already turning into a warrior."

Rose leaned on the banister, still looking at the tower's entrance: "He seems better than yesterday night. I hope you're right."

Zieg's smile didn't fade, although his expression became more serious: "Don't be so harsh, he's trying his best to cope with what has just landed on him."

"I know," she replied quietly: "But it's best for him to understand right away that this is not some kind of game. We're not supposed to babysit him all day long."

"I guess he has already understood that. You'll see, I think he also carries along a good deal of burdens. Maybe life in that other world he talks about isn't that great." Replied Zieg, crossing his arms. In that moment Matthew returned, preventing Rose from answering.

This time she could not hide her smile: in his new outfit, he looked a lot more normal. He was wearing a sturdy, light red armor, which suddenly reminded her of Zieg the day she had first met him.

That day her life had changed, even though she hadn't been able to notice it at first. That powerful man, the leader of the Dragoons, had found her in the Evergreen Forest. She had been running away from her village, from that life of slavery which she could have no longer endured. Everyone she had loved had either died, or had been sent to terrible places such as Kadessa or Zenebatos. She had escaped at night, concealed by the dark, leaving her past behind, her rapier as her only companion. She had heard various news about someone who was building a resistance against winglies, a man named Emperor Diaz who was gathering men somewhere on the northern area of Mille Seseau.

Gloriano. That was the place she had been desperately trying to reach, when something had gone wrong. They had found her, at night, in the middle of that damned forest.

Six winglies had circled her, ready to send her to Mayfil without the slightest delay. She had fought bravely, dancing with her rapier as she had learned to do on her own. She had been good, very good for a girl of twenty who had never been in a proper fight during her whole life.

That, unfortunately, hadn't been enough.

One of the winglies, probably the last one of them, had managed to hit her with a powerful spell. She had been thrown against a tree, her breath cut off by the sudden pain, and that wingly would probably have fulfilled his mission if someone hadn't interfered.

A sword had suddenly pierced through the wingly's chest, preventing him from delivering the last blow.

She had looked at her savior, staring at those piercing blue eyes, unable to see anything else. He had removed his sword from the wingly's corpse and, a grave expression painted on his handsome face, had approached her.

He had held out his hand, and Rose had taken it.

"That's a proper warrior's outfit, young lad! And the most important piece…"

Rose blinked, noticing that Zieg was staring at her. She had been lost in her own thoughts, she realized, and saw that the man was expressly glancing at the broadsword she was still carrying.

_Oh, that. _

She stepped forward and handed the sword to Matthew with a solemn gesture.

He took it, his green eyes flashing with enthusiasm, and carefully weighed it between his hands. Now he really looked like a warrior, that was sure.

"Good. And now for the true training. Go to the arena just below, I'll meet you there in a few moments." Exclaimed Zieg after a while. Matthew nodded and quickly descended the staircase, already holding his sword as if he was never going to let it go.

Zieg smiled and shook his head: "What an enthusiastic guy he turned out to be."

Rose just smiled back. Zieg carefully glanced at her, approaching so much that their foreheads almost touched: "Are you all right, Rose?"

She sighed and nodded: "Yes, sorry for that. I was just thinking…"

"About the past again?" He murmured, gently caressing her cheek.

"Those were…happy memories. Not the dark ones." She replied, lowering her eyes. It felt kind of odd. She had killed her feelings for countless years, hiding behind a coldness which had become part of her. She had been alone for so long, and now here she was, right near someone who could fully understand her and who desperately wanted to ease her suffering.

Being loved was strange.

Zieg, as always, seemed to read her mind: "You don't have to endure this all alone anymore, Rose. I'm here, your burden is mine, too. I won't let you struggle any longer on what you've been through, ok?"

She smiled, her eyes full of gratitude: "Go, your pupil is waiting for you."

"My pupil? You mean, _our_." He corrected her, frowning.

She just shrugged: "I guess I'll be watching you from up here. I'm not too good with broadswords."

Zieg sighed and nodded, gave her a last glance and then descended the stone steps.

Rose spent the following hours carefully analyzing Matthew's first day of training.

She had probably misjudged him, she thought as she watched him swinging the sword in a move Zieg had shown him at the beginning for, like, the hundredth time.

He was very determined, and even thought he looked kind of tired he kept doing that move over and over, trying his best to master it. Zieg silently followed his moves with his sharp eyes, giving him some advice when it came to.

Although Matthew's obvious lack of training, his body seemed to cope well with the new tasks it had been given. It would probably have taken some time, but in the end he would have turned out a brilliant warrior.

_Perhaps a Dragoon, too, _pondered Rose as the broadsword rose and fell quickly, piercing the air with a shirring sound. It was very likely: her Dragoon spirit, alongside with Zieg's, was still somewhere in the ruins of the Divine Tree, right were the Moon that Never Sets had exploded. Waiting for someone to pick it up.

Maybe, someday, Matthew would have travelled as far as the Death Frontier to retrieve that item that would have granted him a power beyond imagination. It was too early to think about this, however, so Rose let that thought fade away.

_What on heart could be the danger this young man is going to face? Something so powerful that even the mighty Dragoons wouldn't be able to handle?_

Rose shook her head, unable to imagine such a thing. If Matthew had been sent from another world, there had to be a specific purpose. Maybe he was capable of something special, some hidden power which would have unleashed at the right moment.

It seemed impossible, unreal.

A sudden noise brought her back from her daydreaming. Matthew had accidentally dropped his sword, which had landed on the ground with a loud metallic sound. He stood still for a moment, sweat all across his forehead, as he panted heavily while trying to regain some energy. He suddenly kneeled over, trying to catch his sword once more, but Zieg firmly placed a hand on his shoulder forcing him to stand.

"That's enough. You need to rest." He said, his voice calm but severe.

Matthew gazed at him, shaking his head: "There's no need, I can-"

"No, you can't. You don't have to kill yourself, that's not the right way."

The young man lowered his eyes, stricken. Zieg patted on his shoulder: "Listen to me, you've done a lot and this was only your first time. Pushing yourself isn't going to do any good, let me tell you. Besides, we don't need a dead warrior, do we, Rose?"

She met Matthew's eyes and nodded: "Rest, Matthew. Your mind must be tired, too."

He seemed surprised by her reply, but in the end he smiled: "I suppose you two know better than I do. To tell you the truth, I'm really hungry."

Zieg grinned: "See, that's my warrior. Come on, go and eat all you can."

He nodded and started climbing the stair towards his tower, then he seemed to remember something: "Don't you need to eat or rest, too?"

Zieg and Rose glanced at each other, then the man just shook his head: "No, we're different. You'll come to understand that in a while, though. Now, don't bother your mind with new worries: just go and rest."

"Fine." He replied with a grin, and then went into his own tower.

When he disappeared, Rose closed her eyes and a bright, dark light enveloped her body. A few seconds after, a small bird flew towards the sky. Zieg raised his head, surprised, and quickly transformed to follow her.

The two birds flew high, as fast as they could, and soon they landed at Fort Magrad.

Rose switched back to her human form and took a few steps in that ancient place, feeling like more than eleven thousand years ago, when she had arrived there, so young and naïve, not knowing anything about the fate that awaited her. Zieg came forward and gently took her hand. He was beside her, just like then.

After all they had been through, it felt like the circle closed itself.

"It's weird, how life goes." Rose whispered, slowly lifting upwards her head as it started to snow. A small snowflake landed on her face, melting immediately.

Zieg nodded, advancing a little and kneeling next to what had been Emperor Diaz's seat when he had ruled them, guiding them to victory: "We are the only remnants of an age that became legend. Our fate divided us, choosing for you a dreadful task and, for me, an eternal sleep. Yet, we are here. Here, where everything began."

He rose, glancing at her as if she were the only thing he had left. Indeed, she was.

"Together."

Rose closed her eyes. She never thought something like that could ever happen. It was like the ice she had placed around her heart during all those years had suddenly melted, letting her become human again. Zieg held her close, gently caressing her long hair, and Rose found herself crying. She was surprised as warm tears ran down her face.

_How long has it been…since I last cried? _Rose asked herself, and couldn't honestly remember. This time, however, she didn't have to hinder her emotions. She just stood there, wrapped in Zieg's warm embrace as the snow kept falling.

Matthew glanced for the hundredth time towards Vellweb's entrance, wondering where Zieg and Rose might have disappeared to. They had been away for a couple hours by then, and he hadn't a single clue where they could be.

_They left me here, alone in this weird place, _he thought suddenly, but immediately rejected that idea. They would never have done something like that, he was certain of it. Even though he had met them just the night before, he could tell that they weren't capable of abandoning him in such a way.

He rose, feeling slightly numb for having sat still for too much, and carefully drew his broadsword. The dying sunlight gleamed dimly on the sharpened blade, as if trying to catch once again the young man's attention. Matthew sighed, closing his eyes as he remembered yet another time how, just the day before, he had been sitting next to his old-fashioned computer while trying to spend another lazy day of his useless existence. He almost laughed out loud: it all seemed so distant now, almost like he had never left that lonely place up on those icy mountains.

_I'm still trying to figure out if this is a dream, _ he considered morbidly. Yet, he was pretty sure the ache in his muscles from that morning's training wasn't in the least fake. He had also been hungry, thirsty and weary. Such things only happened in reality.

_Maybe in this exact moment I'm locked in a padded cell, my own mind has finally lost every single bit of coherence…_

He bit his own lip, suddenly afraid of that possibility. But, wasn't that what he had longed for, in the end? A way to end his miserable life? Maybe being completely insane wasn't that bad, compared to what you had to face every day.

Matthew shook his head, refusing to bring back again such memories. It seemed his life had taken a turn, for better or worse. Who cared if he was in some kind of dream world, if he apparently had to become some powerful warrior to fight against an unnamed threat? As long as he was away from his life and his troubles, everything was fine. Even sleeping in that sack Rose had given him last night.

That brought his mind once more to the thought of his new masters, and he broke into a smile. They were weird, enormously different from every single person he had met during his life. They were of course skilled fighters, had a great experience, but that wasn't all. They seemed to carry along an inextinguishable burden, especially the woman. She scared him a little, even though he doubted she was really the cold hearted, harsh person she acted like. It was just a thought, but Matthew felt inexplicably drawn to them. He wanted to learn, to become a better person, in order to finally accomplish something in his life.

He rose his head, and for the first time in many years he found himself thanking God for having brought him there. That God in which he had never really put faith into, and that probably didn't even exist in that weird world.

Sighing, Matthew drew his sword again and started practicing all over, before even the last rays of the fading sun left place to the cold night.

The air was chilly , but her small body pierced through it nevertheless. Rose still couldn't realize how beautiful it was to feel so free, to have yet again a pair of wings to rely on. Zieg, at her side, seemed to enjoy just the same their brief flight back to Vellweb. They had got carried away, lost in their own memories, and hadn't realized the sun had gone down till they had felt the night's cold embrace silently wrap around them. Now it was dark already, and she found herself concerned about Matthew. Was he worried by their absence?

_I think he's quite fine on his own, _thought Zieg flying beyond her, his red-tipped wings flailing. Rose quietly followed him, immersed in her own thoughts. Now that the night had come, a weird feeling had started creeping in her mind. She could feel something wrong in the air, a tension that made her uneasy.

Something was bound to happen, she knew it.

It came suddenly, hitting her like a rock thrown at full speed. Her vision blurred and the world in front of her disappeared: the mountains, Vellweb's ruins, even Zieg faded to black before her.

Rose tried to shake her head, then remembered that she was still in her bird form. Yet, there was nothing she could feel. It was like being back in that darkness which had enveloped her from the very beginning. Suddenly something appeared: an immense expanse of scorching sands, worm-like monsters popping out from everywhere and dangerous-looking whirlpools which drew to them everything in range of their vicious power.

_The Death Frontier_, she thought immediately. There was no mistaking, there was only a place that horrible in the whole continent of Endiness. Yet, she suddenly decided to ignore the landscape to focus on a scene taking place right in front of her.

Atop a huge, ruined tree branch, flew a Dragoon. His wings wide, he held his sword like the fiercest of battles was to be fought. Rose noticed that the Dragoon's face was kind of familiar: when she spotted his brown, curly hair, all of her doubts disappeared: it was Matthew.

Quickly, before she could even wonder what on earth was he doing there, another figure joined the weird scene. Rose's heart skipped a beat: it was the darkness Dragoon, clad in that very dark violet armor she had fought with so many times in her whole life.

It looked like a young girl, although she couldn't really see her in detail. She flew as high as Matthew, a long rapier in her hand, and joined him just as the earth began to shake. Rose felt an enormous power coming, but suddenly everything shattered and she fell back in that odd darkness.

A moment later, she was hovering on Vellweb's ruins.

Zieg landed next to the Red-Eyed Dragoon's tower and shifted back to his human form. Rose did the same, still confused by what she had just seen. Apparently she must have looked puzzled, for when Zieg turned to face her, he frowned.

"Are you alright?" He questioned her, slightly raising an eyebrow. She just stared back, trying to put together the pieces of that scene.

At last, she slowly leaned on the tower's ruined wall and sighed: "I think we'll be having a new warrior soon."


	5. Chapter 4

Hey there, another chapter! This is a little longer than the previous others, and took me fairly long to get done… but I hope you like it! Happy reading ^_^

Chapter 4

The monster, which would have almost looked like a woman if deprived of its horrible, nightmarish black wings, lurked forward. Matthew just awaited for the right timing, carefully analyzing his enemy while keeping an almost perfect battle stance. A succubus, Zieg had called that creature. A being meant to scare people, perhaps, but the young man wasn't the least afraid of having to face it. Since he had arrived there, in Vellweb, he had fought countless numbers of fiends. Creatures that before had only existed in his worst nightmares, he thought as he tightened the grip on his broadsword's hilt. The succubus suddenly leapt forward, trying to tear his chest apart with its long claw-like nails. Matthew quickly dodged and countered, striking so hard the creature was nearly split into two. It effortlessly fell to the ground, not even making a noise.

Matthew released his breath, and with a calm gesture removed the lock of hair which had fallen on his face during the brief fight.

_It sure has grown a lot in these few months…When did I last have an haircut?_ He mumbled absent-mindedly. It must have been nearly three months ago, before all of that had began. Back when he still was a normal human being, a lazy citizen who just struggled to go on living.

_So much has changed since then…_

He strapped his broadsword on his shoulder and turned back to the Dragoons' towers, slowly climbing back to the place that had become his home ever since he had been chosen as a warrior.

He could barely remember being from another world, now. Endiness's reality had rooted so deep inside of him, that he rarely thought of his past. This new life was much better than the previous one, that was for sure.

As he reached the Red Eyed Dragoon's tower he spotted Rose and Zieg nearby, in their bird form, and realized they had been checking on his training. As usual, naturally.

He sighed. For a brief moment, at the very beginning of his adventure, he had thought he wouldn't have been alone. Rose's premonition had given him an odd feeling, as if having someone else from the other world there was, in a way, kind of wrong. Being with someone from the real world would have brought back memories…and he didn't want to remember. Not at all.

They had waited, but no one had ever come. No eerie light, no weird appearance in the middle of the night, no nothing. Matthew, in the end, had come to accept that he would have to do his task alone and had thrown himself into training, straining himself to death every day, from sunrise to twilight, till he had started to see some improvements. Rose, on the other hand, appeared to be waiting for something to happen. She hadn't lost faith in a new warrior, it seemed.

The two birds flew before him, shifting back to their human form. Matthew blinked twice at that shimmering light, still uncertain of how his two masters could manage to do that. They weren't really human, they had explained him, and were there just to accomplish the task of making him a warrior. It didn't really matter in the end, for Matthew had finally understood what kind of people they were. Their story was nearly unbelievable, and so full of pain it nearly hurt him just to think of it.

"Good job with that monster, young lad." Said Zieg with a flashing grin.

Matthew smiled back, shrugging: "Nothing new, they're always the same monsters. And that reminds me, it's been three months since I have arrived and I still haven't left Vellweb…" He ventured, unsure on how they would have answered. Zieg just kept smiling, perhaps a little more widely, whereas Rose shot him an icy glare: "You are just at the beginning of your training, don't be so confident of your skills. The world out there is ready to eat you, if you act carelessly."

"Yeah, I know, I'm not…" Matthew replied, taken aback, but Rose shook her head and he decided to shut his mouth.

Suddenly, a frightening shriek filled the air. The young man felt his skin creep at that sound, for it could only mean that Rose's dragon was back. Indeed, he appeared a few moments after and started circling over them, reminding Matthew how badly he had been scared that first night, back when he had arrived.

Rose gazed above her, frowning: "He hasn't shown up since that night you came…"

Zieg looked at her, and they both nodded.

Matthew, however, was clueless. He nervously scratched the back of his head, confused: "Er, sorry, what's going on exactly?"

Rose stared at him, and for a moment he really thought she wasn't going to answer. _God, maybe she considers me dumb_,he thought grimly.

In the end, however, she sighed: "Maybe that means the person we've been waiting for will arrive soon. Perhaps even tonight."

That struck Matthew like a lightning. He had been told something like that before, but he had been a different person back then. Still a frightened, ignorant young man too chained to his own world to truly understand the meaning of it. Would someone really arrive that night?

Michael's loud cry went on, and in the end Matthew decided he could no longer endure it. If someone really came, the fragile equilibrium he had created around him would have shattered, and he felt he wouldn't have been able to put the pieces back together once more.

He quickly rose from the spot where he had been nervously sitting for a while and approached the tower's entrance, uneasiness painted on his face event thought he tried his best to conceal it.

"I think I'll rest, I'm not feeling well." He muttered, then left without another word.

Zieg silently watched him go, then crossed his arms and shook his head, puzzled: "He looks frightened."

"He is," replied Rose, still gazing at the sky. When the man questioningly raised an eyebrow, she just shrugged: "I can feel it, even though I don't know why. He's afraid that his new life will be ruined by some interference, perhaps. Nevertheless, I'm also quite sure that something will happen tonight, and I don't want to be unprepared."

Zieg smiled: "Are you going to prepare your tower? That's a nice gesture, I suppose."

She just sighed, leaning on the banister: "I just don't want her to feel so out of place as Matthew was. If putting a pillow and a mattress in that ruin can be called preparing, yes, that's what I'm going to do."

"Her?" Asked the man, still surprised by how sure she seemed of what was going to happen: "So she's a woman."

"Man, woman, whatever. I guess she is, but that doesn't matter. Are you coming, too?" She replied sharply, staring at him with a brief smile. Zieg smiled back and nodded, but before they could transform and fly towards Deningrad a thought suddenly crossed his mind. He placed a hand on Rose's shoulder, a serious expression on his face.

"You head towards Deningrad, I need to go on a short detour deep in the Evergreen Forest."

Rose's expression became one of dismay in a split second. She lowered her gaze, no words to express how she felt. Zieg however gently took her hand and raised her chin till she was facing him again, and saw that he was smiling.

A sad smile, but still.

"Rose, I have to do this. You have nothing to worry about, but I can't keep running away from that part of my life."

"You're right," she murmured: "It's not like you."

They parted in the very middle of the forest, stopping briefly to glance at each other.

_I'll join you in a while, don't worry,_ Zieg thought, glancing at Rose. Her small bird head seemed to nod and, after lingering a little, she disappeared beyond the tall snow-covered trees. Zieg watched her go and went on for a while, flying slowly, until he decided to change into his human form. He dropped to the ground, once again a man clad in red armor, and looked around.

The forest hadn't changed much, even after all those years. He silently stood there for a moment, feeling just like back when he had awakened after his long slumber, only to discover that the world around him was no longer the one he had fought for.

A hundred different feelings struck him suddenly: the deep despair he had felt, the confusion that had taken over him as soon as he had understood that he was alone. Utterly alone. No one had been there, nothing but an abysmal loneliness. He had lurched through the ruins of the wingly capital, almost a ghost trapped in a living body, feeling dizzy and deeply shaken. What exactly had happened?

He didn't know for sure, couldn't figure it out even after all those years, but somehow he had found himself wandering through Mille Seseau, only seeking for a way to put an end to his meaningless life. His mind had refused to let him think of the past, of what had happened during the Dragon Campaign. He had spent so many days watching numbly as people went on with their lives, uncaring of what had happened there, humans living freely without even remembering that once they had been mere slaves. He had found out only later that more than eleven thousand years had passed since that last battle in Kadessa, where everything had come to an end.

He shook his head, awakening from his daydreaming. He looked at his hands, frowning: they were still there, _he _was still there. No matter all that had happened, he still had a task to accomplish.

_Move, do what you have to, you haven't got all day, _he told himself, and began to walk slowly towards the place that had been both hell and heaven for him.

The silence around him was almost perfect, he couldn't even hear the chirp of birds. The landscape kept sending painful memories to his mind, but he went on nevertheless.

_I have to do this, I can't let this part of my life fade into nothingness…_

Suddenly, the narrow path he was following widened and he rose his head.

His heart leapt forward at that sight: the remnants of what had once been a village lied beyond, completely covered by a thick blanket of snow.

Neet, or what was left of it.

Almost spellbound, Zieg walked forward. To his eyes that place looked exactly like it had back when people still lived there: the neat, wooden houses clung together, almost in the attempt of escaping the cold grasp of the unmerciful winter. Salesmen standing behind their stands, shouting at everyone who passed by to buy their wonderful items at a spectacular price. Children running around, throwing snowballs

at each other, building snowmen in the small plaza in front of the town's church.

Little Dart playing hide and seek with his friends, his blond spiky hair glowing in the gentle sunlight.

He found himself clenching his fists tightly and released them. He was staring at a big patch of snow, completely void. Probably no one would have guessed that place had once been inhabited, if not for the ruins... and something else, as he discovered after a few other steps.

In the middle of that plaza he so clearly remembered stood a gravestone. It was big, its base covered with moss, and looked terribly out of place amidst all that white.

He approached it and slowly knelt, not feeling the cold embrace of snow as he sank to his ankle. A endless list of names stood there, sharply engraved on the cold stone. Zieg glanced down, not really reading all those small letters. Had he known all those persons? Probably, but he didn't remember. It was something else he was looking for. At last, he found it.

Between all those names, merely two caught his attention.

_Zieg and Claire Feld_

He rose a slightly trembling hand and caressed those words, his blue eyes lost into his memories.

Claire. The only other woman he had been able to love beside Rose, the one who had dragged him away from that empty and pointless existence. Her image suddenly cropped up into his mind, as she had looked like the first time he had seen her.

She stood there, her arms folded, trying to warm herself by the inn's fireplace. Zieg at first hadn't even noticed her, too immersed into his own brooding to become aware of anything concerning the outer world. Now, however, her small figure caught his attention. She looked very young and miserable, long locks of almost silver hair dangling down her pale face. It was just like as if everything in her was screaming how sick she was of living.

Maybe that was what had caught his attention in the first place. She looked just like him, alone and lost in a world which she didn't feel as her own.

_You're completely insane_, Zieg said to himself, and found that it was most likely true: who could keep his mind, after having passed so much as he had?

Suddenly, the inn's owner seemed to notice the girl too. He frowned, then approached her. Zieg saw her stiffen, but she kept staring at the flames nevertheless, hands tightly clenched together.

"Hey youngster, watcha doing here?" The owner, a fat guy with a dirt stained apron, asked her abruptly.

She kept still, as if hypnotized by the fire's slow movement. The man grunted, then grabbed her by a thin shoulder and forced her to face him.

"Listen, I bet you're broke. Not even a buck, right?"

This time she _did_ look up, and what Zieg saw in those dark eyes was what truly struck him for the first time since he had awakened: guilt, an enormous amount of it, and pain, and loneliness, and a fading light which indicated that she was giving up to whatever was consuming her. That maybe she had already given up.

She stared at the man and slowly shook her head. He then sighed and gestured towards the exit, sounding annoyed: "This is no place for ya. C'mon, leave that place for someone who can actually pay."

Zieg saw her clenching her fists, and for a brief moment he thought that she would just stand and punch that guy to death. In that sudden change he identified yet another feeling that flowed through her body: anger. But that disappeared as fast as it had come: she lowered her head again, but made no other gesture of moving. The inn's owner, deciding he had had enough, unkindly shoved her out of the chair and almost sent her sprawling to the ground. She staggered a little, then just resolved to leave. Without looking back, she went through the door.

Zieg, without thinking, rose. The man, still near the chair the girl had been sitting on, gave him a weird look, but he didn't even care to stare back. He knew such people well, and had enough sense to decide it was best to avoid any argument. It would only cause trouble.

_Not that you wouldn't deserve a good beating,_ thought Zieg grimly as he left the inn.

The road just outside was completely empty. Not so uncommon, people were probably having tea or whatever in their comfortable houses, instead of wandering in the cold, snowy streets. That girl, on the other hand, had most likely as much a place to call home as he had. He sighed, finding it odd how she had disappeared in a mere instant. She was nowhere to be seen.

Zieg began to wander aimlessly, as he always did, not even noticing the snow that had started falling again from the clouded sky.

_How could I think she would have been able to punch that guy in the first place?_ He mused, absently stroking his hair. He didn't know, but there had been something about her that had rung a bell in his mind.

She had looked like a warrior. Her spirit, at least, if not for her small body.

He had known many warriors, so he was pretty sure he could recognize one… or maybe not, he had been wrong. His head didn't seem to cooperate, so all of it had probably been a mere, crazy dream. He had plenty of those, couldn't remember a single night of quiet sleep since finding himself in that dreadful wingly ruin.

Nonetheless, he slowly kept walking, unconsciously searching for her. He somehow felt the compelling urge to help her, to remove that pain from those eyes.

When twilight came, and the first shadows of the impending night became thicker, he still hadn't found a single trace of her. He stood for a moment, considered how vainly he had spent yet another day, and craned his head towards the darkening sky.

He often did that, it kind of eased the burden he carried along: that sky had always been there, had seen all that had happened, held memories of the terrible war which had ended with human freedom. Yet, the sky couldn't speak to him. There were no words that could clear the chaos in his mind, nothing at all to lessen his suffering.

Suddenly, a muffled scream broke the lingering silence. Zieg immediately brought his hand to his broadsword's hilt, a gesture that awakened in his numb body so many feelings that at first he felt almost dizzy. He had dragged along that sword as much as a part of his own body, never using it once. Now, however, he felt like he had never left the battlefield: his eyes where sharp, his ears ready to perceive any sound that should speak of incoming danger. He identified the source of the earlier scream at once: a nearby, secluded alley.

Zieg, holding his sword tightly and confidently, crept along the nearby wall and approached the far-off corner of the dirty, snowy passage. Unseen, concealed by the darkness, he discovered what had produced that scream.

A huge, tall man was clutching tightly someone's throat. He appeared to be young, but he was so in a disarray, his clothes all torn apart and dirty, that he looked at least ten years older. His left hand was clenching tightly his victim, whereas the right one held a long, thin dagger.

Zieg could still hear small muffled sounds, but they were weaker now. The man suddenly burst out laughing, without loosening his grip: "You little bitch, now I'll teach ya what happens to youn' little ladies who wander in such big cities all by themselves." He moved a little, and Zieg finally caught a glance of who that bastard was trying to choke.

It was _her,_ the girl he had been looking for all day long. Her already pale face was becoming cyanotic, her eyes nearly rolled upwards. She wasn't struggling, wasn't trying to fight back, not even attempting to kick that goddamned jerk in the balls.

_Enough,_ Zieg considered, and left his hiding spot. The man wasn't facing towards him, but even if he had, it wouldn't have been a problem. Zieg's steps were those of a seasoned warrior: in a mere instant he reached them, gave a split second to the man in order for him to realize that his plans had gone terribly wrong, and struck.

The blade nearly torn him in half, and he fell to the ground with a loud thump.

Huge spots of blood began to spread on the snow's white blanket. Zieg didn't see them, didn't see anything. Delivering that blow had snapped something in him, had awakened memories that had been in a kind of forced sleep ever since he had returned to the world of the living. He wasn't in that cold city anymore, the one whose name he couldn't even remember. Now he was in a forest, at night, thousands years away from there, and the body sprawled in front of him was that of a wingly. There was blood, just the same, and maybe even small patches of snow.

He looked at his sword, then shifted his gaze towards the woman he had just saved.

A pair of dark eyes, wide and terrified, but somehow full of pride and strength, shone dimly in the moonlight. The woman in front of him had long black hair, her skin was as white as the snow which covered those northern lands.

Suddenly Zieg felt a painful ache in his chest. He couldn't remember, didn't want to remember, not even her name. He held his eyes tightly shut, trying to get a hold of himself, but the darkness behind them was even more devastating than facing reality, so he unwillingly opened them again.

_Please, no, don't let it start all over,_ he silently prayed, but what he saw this time was rather different.

It was still a pair of dark eyes what he was staring into, but they belonged to a trembling, almost frozen girl which now lay knee-deep in the snow, right beside the man's corpse.

He tried to gather his thoughts. _The girl, the man who was trying to choke and probably rape her, right_, he quickly remembered. She was staring at him, but she didn't seem frightened. In fact, she didn't seem _anything_ at all. It was like she had been emptied, those eyes looked dull and emotionless. Zieg forced himself to put aside his own troubles for an instant, finding it very difficult. He held out his hand, another memory nearly crushing him the very moment he did so.

Yet, she kept staring at him, ignoring his offer.

_Don't make all of this even more difficult, _he silently begged, but even before he could utter a single world, she suddenly came to life.

"Kill me."

Her voice was broken, almost a whisper, but Zieg could never have mistaken those two words. And he didn't understand, either. His first impression had been right: she had wanted to die in the first place. He never left her gaze, but he sheathed his sword once again and just shook his head.

"I didn't save you just to kill you right after." He murmured, and almost shivered at the sound of his voice. It was still raw, didn't even sound like his own.

She somehow managed to clench her half frozen fists, a hint of the rage Zieg had felt earlier that day.

"I don't want to live anymore, just do what I tell you." She whispered, and Zieg almost thought she would have died right there just the same. He had to take her away, she wouldn't be able to endure it any longer.

When she saw he had no intention of moving, she feebly tried to stand and, as a result, lost her balance. Zieg caught her just before she could fell face first into the man's torn body. This time she struggled, trying to free herself from his gentle but firm grasp.

"Don't touch me!" She almost screamed, and now her eyes began to get watery: "You don't know anything, _absolutely_ nothing of what I've been through! You're no one to say that I should live… is it so hard for you to put an end to this? Just like you did with him?" She was breathing hard by the time she had finished, and tears had started running down her face.

Zieg just stood there, silent. _If you only knew, poor thing…_

Suddenly, he took her by the thin shoulders and held her against his chest. He didn't know why, it just felt right. She seemed surprised, and at first tried to regain her distance, but in the end she just abandoned herself right there.

"Kill me…" She said again, her voice almost inaudible now. Zieg just held her, not allowing himself to think. If he did, he was sure the past and the present would have overlapped all over again, and he didn't know if he could have endured it.

Probably not.


	6. Chapter 5

You must have thought I had abandoned you… sorry for being so late! I've had a lot to study and absolutely no time for writing. Now, however, school is mercifully over and I'll be able to update more frequently ^_^

As always, happy reading!

Chapter 5

Zieg suddenly raised his head, startled. He was still crouching beside the tombstone, but the light around him had changed: now it was most likely late afternoon. He had spent hours lost in his own memories without even realizing it.

Claire's name was still there, engraved in small letters. Remembering had been painful, but it had had to be done. After that night they had developed a strong bond between them. They both needed each other in order to escape a faith of self destruction. Eventually, they had found a glimpse of happiness, they had had a son. They had managed to lock their past away, at least for a little while.

Then…

Zieg stood, quickly shaking off the snow that had placed itself on his armor. It wasn't necessary to bring back that part. It had happened, and knowing it was enough.

He silently left the place where once the plaza had been and took the path towards Neet's exit. He had spent way too much time brooding over his past, by now Matthew would probably be concerned. _Rose _would probably be concerned.

Even before reaching the forest's entrance, however, he suddenly felt her presence. She had been right there, had been waiting for him all along.

Zieg hastened his steps and finally saw her, leaning against a shattered streetlamp by the town's entrance. She slightly raised her head when she saw him, but didn't move. Here was no need to be on bird's form to know what she was thinking, Zieg thought as their eyes met. She would never have forgiven herself for all she had destroyed, all those she had killed, even though it had had to be done.

He approached her and smiled: "I'm sorry, I got carried away and lost sense of time."

Rose kept silent, then moved a few steps away: "This place… the mistake I made here basically determined the end of my journey, as much as the beginning of a new one… and I also put an end to the new life you had struggled so much to obtain."

Zieg sighed inaudibly, approached her and took her gently by her shoulders: "Rose, let's return to Vellweb. We have no more business in here, do we?"

She gave him a bitter smile: "Yeah, maybe you're right. I bought everything that girl could ever need."

Zieg smiled back: "Good. So you're positive she will come?"

Rose just shrugged, looking away from Neet's ruins: "We'll see."

Matthew kept staring at the ceiling above him, wide-eyed and lost in his thoughts. The light outside had gradually diminished, and now it was almost dusk. Rose and Zieg had probably returned, but he hadn't even attempted to stand. He kept lying there, in his basic bed, wondering if things would really have changed with the arrival of a new warrior. He suddenly sat, shaking his head.

_Why_ the hell should he be worried? More help was coming, he wouldn't have to be alone anymore. He didn't have to talk of his past if he didn't want to.

He certainly didn't.

He rose, adjusted his red armor and broadsword, and glanced out of the window. He was fed up of staying there, with nothing more to do than mutter over his own troubles.

Matthew left his tower and went in search of his two mentors. He found them near the former Water Dragoon's tower, musingly gazing at Vellweb's entrance. Michael was nowhere to be seen, the young man registered briefly.

"What are you doing here?" He asked, approaching them with a straightforward smile.

Zieg shot him a brief glance: "We're waiting."

Matthew nodded. So they were almost sure someone would have arrived. By that moment he could swear he too felt something in the air, something that blew alongside with the restless bone-chilling wind over Vellweb.

"Where's…hmm, where's your dragon, Rose?" He ventured again, still feeling creepy at the thought of that ancient creature.

She didn't even shift her gaze towards him: she just nodded towards a distant, secluded point: "He's waiting, too. Remember when you arrived? He probably has to test the newcomer." She paused, folding her arms: "Besides, he's not my dragon anymore."

Matthew shivered: he remembered his test well enough. He felt a sudden wave of pity for the poor being that in a few hours would have to face something so horrible.

Stars were beginning to fill the sky above them. Matthew found himself waiting, too. Now he knew something would happen, and it wasn't too far, either.

"Do you think…" he began, then his voice immediately faded. He saw something shining near the ruins' entrance, and suddenly felt hot power flowing through his veins. He was witnessing a kind of miracle, a magic that existed only in fairytales in his own world. Beside him, Rose and Zieg kept silent. They didn't look amazed: after all, they had seen all that before, when he had arrived. He, however, was unable to move his eyes from the light that kept shimmering in huge, dark glows.

After what seemed forever, a small figure appeared.

At first Matthew saw very little, the newcomer was completely wrapped in the night's darkness. Little by little, however, he saw long, slender legs, thin shoulders and a waterfall of long, straight hair.

It was a girl, and a rather small one, he thought dismally.

He briefly glanced towards Rose and Zieg, searching their faces, and found them puzzled. They had probably expected a totally different kind of warrior.

Nevertheless, they stood silent, waiting for the girl to open her eyes.

She felt a cold wind all around her and frowned, concerned. Was it already time for her to get up? It seemed almost impossible, she had gone to bed just a few hours before, weary of studying for the following day's exam. Now she dreaded the moment when she would open her eyes, awakened by her mother, and would leave her warm and comfortable bed in order to change to her icy school uniform and set off for another ordinary day of school. Another _monotonous_ day of school.

Not that she didn't like studying. On the contrary, she really enjoyed losing herself in old literatures, even foreign ones, preferring that far away, distant world to her own. What she disliked was the almost dull repetition of events in her life: getting up, going to school, studying, reading, studying again… always the same. She didn't even go out with friends, which was all a girl of seventeen usually did. She had some acquaintances, sure enough, but she'd rather stay at home, by her own, with her books.

Anyone would have called such a life a living hell, but she had never complained. It was how it had always been, and she had always come to terms with her loneliness.

Who knows, maybe she had even developed a kind of pleasure in being alone.

Only in the last period she had started to get really bored, frustrated. She wished for something to happen, something that would give a turn to her life.

That change, however, didn't include feeling cold wind all over her body and not hearing her mother's voice, who softly called for her to wake up.

All she could detect was an abysmal silence, interrupted only by the gusting wind.

_Am I dreaming? _She asked herself, but it couldn't possibly be that. She _felt_ the cold, grasping embrace of that icy air. Nothing you could feel in a proper dream.

She reluctantly tried to open her eyes, and what she saw next immediately cut her breath short.

A barren landscape, almost dark, with seven thin towers appearing in the distance.

She blinked twice, unable to believe at what stood beside her.

_This is… Vellweb? _She asked herself, amazed. It couldn't be, that place wasn't even _real._ It belonged to an old videogame, for heaven's sake!

Yet, as she gazed towards the darkening ruins of that forgotten place, she found that what she remembered of that place and what she was seeing now matched with blinding precision. Except that everything was real_,_ not seen through pixels or anything.

_I must be having some high fever attack or something, this is impossible,_ she thought. She took some steps, expecting things around her to disappear, but everything remained still. She slowly shook her head, dazed. She knew that game by heart, had played it a hundredth times and loved the story, the haunting locations, the soft tunes played during the scenes… and now there she was, standing in a place which she had always dreamed of.

Somewhere that wasn't meant to exist, but that somehow was there.

Almost sleepwalking, she started towards the stairs which, she remembered clearly, led to those seven towers. The towers where the seven former Dragoons had lived, during the Dragon Campaign.

_I'm beginning to like this, _ she thought, but as she reached the stairs' bottom she abruptly stopped.

There was something up there. She couldn't see it, but knew there was. Could feel it. In that very instant a dark dragon jumped out of the shadows, shrieking fiercely and spreading its wings. She recoiled hastily, eyes wide with fear, but as soon as the creature landed in front of her, she froze.

She knew that dragon, too. He had been in the game, after all.

"Michael?" She whispered, staring into the creature's ancient eyes. The dragon just stared back, threateningly, and let out another shriek. She forced herself to close her eyes and calm down. She could feel her heart hammering in her chest, sweat dripping from her forehead.

_You're not going to hurt me, are you? _She silently asked the dragon after a while. No reply of any sort came, and at last she resolved to take a step forward. She didn't know why, but somehow felt that it was the right thing to do. It was almost impossible to believe, but those menacing eyes didn't scare her. They spoke of countless battles, of death and blood, but also of loyalty and, perhaps, friendship.

The dragon didn't move. Slowly, as if she was really moving in one of those dreams where, no matter how much you struggled, you could only keep an exasperatingly slow pace, as if there was glue under your feet, she placed a hand on the creature's head.

The dragon snorted, seeming almost uneasy, but amazingly didn't retreat. It just kept staring, and from that moment she knew she had been right.

Carefully caressing that ancient creature's head, she felt she had perhaps found that something that would have taken her away from her monotonous life.

Matthew kept staring in amazement at the scene before him. Suddenly, he noticed he had been holding the banister so hard his knuckles had gone white. He let go, still unable to believe at what had just happened.

_How the _hell_ did that little thing manage not only to avoid a heart attack, but even to _touch_ the goddamn creature's head?_

He shook his head and turned towards Rose and Zieg. The former, surprisingly, held a smile on her pale face.

" Now, that's a surprise." Zieg muttered, shifting his sharp eyes in Rose's direction. She kept watching as the girl continued to rub the dragon's head: " I felt it, she's somehow different. She knew that Michael wouldn't have hurt her."

"She must be insane," Matthew replied, frowning: "No one from my world would be happy to cross something like that along the way. Anyone would most likely shit his pants just before-"

"Hush, no time for complaining. Let's go meet her." Rose said, and for the first time Matthew heard something in her voice that sounded almost like enthusiasm.

He exchanged a glance with Zieg, who just shrugged in return. They began following Rose, who had already started descending the stone steps leading below.

As she kept gently caressing the dragon, she heard light steps coming from the stairs just beyond where she was standing. A second later, she noticed three figures concealed by the dark.

She didn't need light to make out who they were, however. At least two of them. Her hand suddenly fell as her eyes widened: she was facing two of the heroes of her favorite videogame, perhaps the best ones. The tall man with short, blond hair, had to be Zieg, whereas the woman beside him…

She felt gooseflesh crawling across her arms: she was Rose, the Darkness Dragoon, and was staring directly at her.

There was another figure, a young man clad in a red armor, but he seemed oddly out of place and she didn't pay much attention to him. After all, it seemed like she couldn't take her eyes off of Rose.

For a moment they could only stare at each other, unable to break the silence. Suddenly, however, Michael roared and took off, with a last glance towards the girl.

Zieg then took a few steps forward and, holding his hand out, smiled eagerly: "Welcome to Endiness, young lady. I'm Zieg, and she is-"

"Rose, I know." She murmured, interrupting him. They shot her a puzzled glance and she quickly shook her head: "It's just…never mind. I'm Enlar, pleased to meet you."

Zieg and Rose looked at each other for a moment, then the former shrugged: "Well, the more you already know, the better. May I ask you how you obtained such knowledge?"

Enlar just smiled in return, unable to answer at first. She couldn't believe it: was it really happening?

"Well…" she finally murmured, strenuously searching for the right words to make herself clear: "It's not very easy to explain. You see, in the place where I live there is a kind of story. A legend, if you like. And in this legend, _you_ are the main characters. _Your_ journey is the one told, and your struggles, your battles…" She lowered her eyes, feeling like what she was saying simply didn't make sense to them.

The young man, the one she had immediately identified as someone out of place, took a step in her direction: "I don't know what you're talking about, and I'm from your same world."

Enlar's eyes widened at this: she uncomfortably gazed at Rose and Zieg, starting to understand that maybe she had gotten herself into trouble.

"Could someone please tell me what happened to me?" She asked suddenly, detesting the silence which had descended upon them after the young man's remark.

"Of course," Said Zieg with a quick smile: "We have lots of time to explain to each other the things we know, don't worry. Please, follow us down below so we can talk more comfortably."

Enlar nodded, still looking at Rose. She hadn't said a single word, but she couldn't tell whether she seemed angry, indifferent or pleased. Her expression was undecipherable.

Rose and Zieg turned towards a pair of stairs on the left and went on, leaving her and the young man behind.

"Who are you?" The girl asked, curiously staring at him.

"Matthew," he replied without enthusiasm: "What the hell were you talking about before?"

"Don't you know?" She replied, slightly surprised. He shot her a puzzled look, shaking his head. Enlar sighed, taking a few steps towards Vellweb's exit. She made a half twirl, spreading her arms: "All of this… this is from a videogame! That's why I know the story and such. You must have heard of it: although being old nowadays, it is still remembered as one of the best role play games ever."

Matthew frowned: "Listen, I know many videogames, but I've never heard of anything like this… what's the name?"

Enlar smiled, slowly glancing at the big moon above her.  
"It's _Legend of the Dragoon_."


	7. Chapter 6

This was a good day, I even managed to finish another one...

Enjoy! ^_^

Chapter 6

Rose descended the stone stairs leading to Emperor Diaz's former quarters without paying much attention to her surroundings. Her mind was still completely occupied with the image of the young girl that had just arrived.

She still hadn't decided whether to be satisfied or displeased with the pupil that had randomly been sent to her. Sure, the girl was very young and looked rather fragile, but that wasn't what counted the most. Rose wanted to test her will, to see if she was fit to be a true warrior.

Her first encounter with Michael had been an excellent start, but Rose was not going to overestimate her.

Zieg glanced at her, a curious smile on his lips: "Are you evaluating her yet?" He whispered, not wanting to be heard by the two behind.

Rose just shrugged: "She has yet to impress me. Petting a dragon isn't enough."

Zieg had to restrain himself from laughing, but she went on nonetheless. She wanted to discover what exactly that girl knew of them, given the fact that Matthew had been clueless at his arrival.

When they arrived Rose quietly leaned against the side of the throne, while Zieg preferred to sit himself on a crushed pillar. Enlar, on the other hand, was basically eating with her eyes everything she saw. Matthew seemed to regard her with a kind of discontent, Rose noticed as the young warrior entered the room.

_Must be jealous of her grand arrival, _she mused, crossing her arms and waiting for the two young folks to sit down.

When they did, Zieg nodded gently towards Enlar: "We're all ears. Tell us everything you know about this world."

Enlar took a deep breath, cleared her voice and started to tell her story. She did it with the ease of someone narrating a well-loved tale, known by heart, and Rose suddenly found herself absorbed by her words. The precision with which she told the facts, beginning with Shana's abduction and the fall of Seles, was nearly uncanny. Besides, hearing her adventures narrated by a third party who had never been there was something so surprising she didn't dare to lose a word she said.

Only a thing, she noticed, was amiss: Enlar didn't relate what exactly happened after she and Dart had fallen from the Queen Fury and had found themselves in that seaside cave. Yet, and of this Rose was certain, she had voluntarily omitted to narrate her moment of weakness, the comparison she had made with Dart and Zieg while reminiscing the long lost times. Enlar knew, but maybe thought it to be inappropriate to share something only Rose was aware of.

It seemed like she didn't want to hurt her feelings, Rose considered ironically.

Her guessing was confirmed when Enlar reached a critical point in the story: the revelation that had taken place in that very room.

Telling Rose's true nature, unlike omitting small facts like her behaviour in that cave, was something she couldn't do. She glanced at her uneasily, setting her deep grey eyes into her jet-black ones, and seemed to ask permission.

"Go on, that's part of the tale too." Rose replied without as much as a twitch, talking to her for the first time. Zieg and Matthew shot her a glance, but Enlar just nodded and went on without stopping.

Rose, within herself, nodded agreeably: that new pupil of her was becoming more and more interesting. Besides, she really wanted to hear that part of the story: wanted to know whether that girl considered her a monster for what she had done, if she blamed her for the lives she had taken.

Enlar, however, discussed only briefly that point and went on to their journey in the Death Frontier. She had stayed perfectly neutral, not showing any emotion while narrating. Rose followed the rest with a weird feeling inside of her: somehow it was very important for her to know what the girl thought, and so far she hadn't been satisfied. She would have to ask, later on.

Enlar finished her tale quickly, reaching the point where Melbu Frahma had finally found his eternal death, delivered by the final blow she and Zieg had stricken.

A deep silence fell on the room as the last of Enlar's words echoed through those thousand years old walls, fading slowly into the cold night air.

"So... how come you're still here? I thought you had obtained that rest you both sought... and deserved."The girl finished at last, switching her gaze from Zieg to Rose.

The man opened his mouth to answer, but Rose took word before he could utter a single sound: "We were dead, as you accurately described, but have been called back because we have a task to fulfil. As Matthew already knows, soon something will once again put this world on the verge of chaos. Both of you will train as warriors, under our guidance, thus becoming Endiness's only hope. Or so we were told, at least." She said, slightly raising her eyebrows.

Enlar just stared at her, wide-eyed: "We? This world's only hope? And what about the other Dragoons? What could be so fearsome and dangerous to hinder even their powers? And, more importantly, what could _we_ do?"

Zieg stood up, stroking his hair absentmindedly: "All of your questions, my dear, will remain unanswered. The truth is, no one knows. Only the future will tell."

Enlar lowered her head, touching her chin in a reflective gesture, then just nodded.  
"I see. Well, I'll do my best to accomplish my task. I know it won't be easy, but..." she stood and looked firmly into Rose's eyes: "I'm ready."

The woman nodded: "Good, let me take you to your tower. First of all, you need to rest."

With that said, she went towards the stairs and started climbing them. Before following her, Enlar turned towards Zieg and Matthew and shot them a brief smile. Without waiting for a reply she left the room, her long brown hair slightly moving in the night breeze.

Matthew silently watched her go, his brow furrowed.

_Who the hell does she think she is? _He wondered. He didn't know why, but he already couldn't stand her. Maybe it was the way she had arrived, how she had caressed Michael without showing any fear; maybe it was all she knew on their situation, whereas he had been totally clueless at the beginning; maybe it was the way she had willingly accepted her fate, while he, on the other hand, had neared a mental breakdown upon being told the same thing.

At any rate, he found her extremely annoying.

Zieg approached him and landed a familiar pat on his back: "Hey, aren't you glad you finally have some company? Someone from your own world?"

"Thrilled." He muttered in response.

At that, Zieg burst out laughing: "Don't tell me you're jealous! Who's the man here?"

Matthew shot him a cold glare: "I'm not jealous. It's just that, with her grandeur, she made me seem ridiculous."

The man shook his head, still giggling: "Matthew, Matthew... don't be childish. She's very young, she has yet to realize what has landed upon her, and you even have three months' training in advantage. Now tell me where do you consider yourself ridiculous."

Matthew didn't answer, shaking his head in dissent. He knew he was being childish, but his pride had been injured. Had been injured by a _snotty_ _brat,_ as he promptly renamed her.

"Listen, young lad." Said Zieg, now serious again: "Just worry for yourself right now. Leave her to her own tribulations, I'll assure you that she's gonna have some as much as you had. Then, in a few months, we'll see if you have the right to feel ridiculed."

Matthew shrugged, uncertain: "Yeah, sure. We'll see."

Enlar followed Rose through the pitch-black ruins of Vellweb. Now that the moon had been covered by the clouds, it was nearly impossible to make out the unpaved road they were walking on. She shuddered against the cold wind: that long speech had seemingly drained her energies, and now she felt weary. All she needed was a good night's rest, although she doubted she would have managed to actually sleep.

The turmoil in her head was enormous: she had ended up in another world, a world which she had often dreamed of, and was to become a warrior. Her guide during her training would be Rose, the woman that was walking slightly ahead of her.

Enlar glanced at her slender figure, at her cascade of long, black hair. How many times had she desired to meet her, to discover that she was real? And now she was really there, walking with her.

Off all the things that had happened to her so far, that was the most surprising: she had always considered Rose as the best character in the whole game, with a strong characterisation and an utterly fantastic back-story. Even after discovering what her true role had been, she hadn't changed her feelings towards her: on the contrary, what the former Darkness Dragoon had done for the safety of mankind was something that had incremented even more Enlar's devotion for her person.

Now, of all the warriors, she was to be her guide.

The landscape once again caught her attention, interrupting the constant flowing of her thoughts. They were standing at the base of the Darkness Dragoon's tower, which seemed to loom above them with its dark cupola.

"You first." Said Rose leaving the entrance empty and waiting for Enlar to go in. The girl nodded and, hesitantly, went into that darkness. She could see very little: she had yet to climb some stairs, she knew it, but it was hard to do so without a single ray of light. Nonetheless she forced herself on until the stone steps ended and she knew she had arrived.

Now that her eyes had slightly adjusted to that thick gloom, she managed to make out the place where she stood. She was in a rather large room, which once had undoubtedly been beautiful. She imagined she could still see the basic but elegant furniture, the light curtains which had covered the small window looking down below, the torches that had feebly lit that place making it a comfortable hideout.

Now, everything was just a ruin.

_No, _she corrected herself after a split second: something had changed since Dart and the others had been there. In the left corner of the room there was a rudimentary table, whereas what remained of the bed was neatly made up with a pillow and a blanket.

Had all of that been set for her?

The thought warmed her heart and she turned towards Rose, who was standing next to her: "You shouldn't have..."

"Don't thank me, I just did what I felt was right. This place still remains a ruin, after all." She replied briskly.

Enlar smiled: "It's perfect, don't worry. I'll get used to it."

Rose just nodded, and for a moment the girl thought she had actually something else to say, but then the woman turned and went to the entrance.

"Training starts tomorrow at dawn. We'll be working hard since you arrived here three months after Matthew, so be sure to rest well."

"All right." Enlar replied, her enthusiasm still unshaken by Rose's lack of touch. When the woman started climbing down the stairs, however, Enlar called her back.

"Rose?"

She turned to face her, questioningly raising an eyebrow.

"It's just... nothing important. All I wanted to tell you is that I'm glad you'll teach me how to be a warrior." The girl replied, smiling again.

Rose for a moment half smiled, but then quickly recomposed herself: "Hmm, I wonder if you'll still be glad tomorrow night, after a day of training. You might change your mind."

Then, without waiting for an answer, she abruptly left, leaving Enlar alone.

The girl shook her head, still smiling, and looked around her.

Her new room. Her new life.

She went to the bed and sat there, looking up at the dark-vaulted ceiling and feeling a weird quiver up her spine. Yet, it wasn't unpleasant: it spoke of a completely new existence, filled with things the likes of which she had never seen.

Maybe, she wondered while undressing herself, she had finally found that something which would have broken the dullness in herlife.

She carefully set her clothes on the makeshift table near the window and threw herself under the blanket, her back noticing at once the stone-like texture of the bed. Uncaring, Enlar buried her face in the pillow, which at least was soft, and fell almost immediately in a deep sleep filled with vivid images of that world where she had unknowingly ended up.

_If tomorrow I wake up in my own room, back at home, I think I'll cry, _was her last coherent thought before falling beyond the verge of consciousness.

Flying high, Rose spotted Zieg quietly standing atop Damia's tower and joined him, placing herself next to his red-spotted bird body.

_Is our new fearsome warrior at sleep? _Asked Zieg's voice in her mind.

_I guess she is, _she replied in the same fashion. She couldn't remove from her mind what the girl had told her at last, those few words she had felt where necessary. She had told she was _glad_.

Rose could in no way imagine how someone could be _glad_ of having a murderer of children, a true monster, as a guide.

Zieg suddenly hit her with a wing, eying her with contempt.

_What the hell are you-_ she started to think, but then another imperious thought invaded her mind.

_Will you please stop being foolish? Let me remind you that I can hear every single thing you think._

At that Rose sighed: yes, she had forgotten. It was hard to believe that, in bird form, her mind was no longer a secluded place.

Well, to Zieg, at least.

_I'm not being foolish. That's just how things are, I'm surprised she didn't run away in terror upon discovering I was to train her._

Zieg lowered his head, then suddenly a bright red light shone into the night and he turned back to his human form. He carefully balanced himself on the verge of the aquamarine dome and sat. Surprisingly, after a while he took her in his hands, lifting her up with no effort.

"My poor, little bird." He mockingly chanted, stroking her white and dark-violet feathers .

Rose pecked his fingers and freed herself, quickly flying out of his reach.

"Aw, c'mon, I was just joking! Come here!" Said Zieg, starting to laugh. Rose shot him a cold glare, but nevertheless landed gently on his shoulder.

_I can always peck you again, watch your tongue, _she sent him, although she knew he couldn't hear her in that form.

"I know my dear Rose doesn't like to have someone in her mind, that's why I reverted. It's a secret place, isn't it?" He asked her, staring at the distant horizon. Rose didn't move. She merely stood there, on his shoulder, relishing his warmth and realising she was really having the time of her life. It still sounded so strange to her, as unfamiliar as she was with such feelings.

Suddenly she flew to his lap and transformed, ending up in his arms. Zieg was there to hold her, preventing any danger of falling down.

Besides, was there any need to be afraid if you could always rely on a pair of wings?

Zieg smiled, holding her close and caressing her hair: "It is almost impossible not to love you, you know?"

Rose shook her head: "That's what you say. I wonder what all those I killed think..."

He took her chin so that she ended up staring intensely into his piercing blue eyes: "I've had enough of this. The past is _past, _for heaven's sake! Now we're here, we are together and we have work to do. You have no reason to blame yourself, as I guess I've already told you for, like, a thousand times. To keep mourning on your deeds is something that can be compared to weakness, and you've never been weak, not once in your long life. Want to start now?"

Rose closed her eyes, wishing that she could really put away her guilt. Hell, she had done so for eleven thousand years, how come she couldn't do the same now?

Because others knew, she realised.

Because _Zieg_ knew, most of all.

"Rose? Is everything ok?"

"Yes, sure." She murmured, and noticed she was still frozen in the same position as before. She half smiled and gently released Zieg's hand from her chin, taking it in her own.

"I assure you I'll do my best not to talk about it anymore. I guess I'm not fit for being weak."

He raised an eyebrow, still concerned: "And that's the talking part. But, what about _thinking _about it?"

Rose shrugged, tired of that discussion: "I'll try."

Zieg sighed, slightly shaking his head: "Right, I already know." He passed a hand through his hair and his eyes went once more to what lay beyond Vellweb. Maybe he was still thinking of Neet, Rose thought, but abruptly sent back the images that came to her mind at the mere name of the small town. She had promised just a few seconds ago that she would not think so much of the past. Did she want to break that promise after not even an hour?

"You know, I think our Matthew has developed a king of jealousy towards Enlar."

"I noticed it." She replied, silently thanking him for taking her mind away from such thoughts. "For one thing, she looks very competent. I guess he has a point in being a little bit envious."

"Don't be silly, you can't say that when she hasn't even started her training." Replied Zieg, frowning.

"Well, it's just my personal opinion. Anyway, I think we shouldn't train them together." Rose said, removing a lock of her long hair which had fallen on her cheek.

"Why not?" The man asked: "What harm would it do if they saw each other's progresses?"

She bit her lip, musing aloud: "Maybe one of them could get overconfident of his own skills and, as a consequence, train with less ardour with the certainty of being the best. On the contrary," she continued as Zieg listened carefully: "if they weren't aware of the other's abilities, they would always do their best in order not to be outdone. Sometimes this kind of competition can be positive."

Zieg watched her, comprehension dawning in his eyes: "This is brilliant. Now that you mention this, I wonder how come I didn't realise it before."

"You were too occupied with worrying about me." Rose replied with a smile, then suddenly jumped out of his arms and off the tower. Zieg stood, wide-eyed, until he remembered she could fly. Indeed, her small figure appeared in front of him, just barely visible in the dark.

_Concealed in her own element, as always,_ he thought tenderly as he joined her in the sky.

They both set off towards the west, meaning to feel like a part of nature some more until dawn would come to bring them back to their duties.


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

The village below her was quiet, enveloped in the night's dark embrace. Every single street was desert. The only hints of human existence seemed to be the feeble lights which shone behind the curtained windows, kept carefully closed against the cold breeze.

A storm was near, Enlar knew it.

The very air she breathed was full of power. She could see thunderheads in the distance slowly making their way towards the seemingly newly-built houses.

Suddenly, the silence was broken by thunder and several lightings started falling, illuminating briefly the jet-black sky.

_Where am I?_ The girl confusedly thought. She was soaring high above the village, apparently one with the atmosphere. Her body had no consistence at all, as if she weren't really there.

The hairs on the nape of her neck rose suddenly as a jolt of terrifying energy went through her body. What she was feeling couldn't be compared to anything she had ever experienced: it was a power beyond human imagination, something ineffable which just sent her mind in a state of utter chaos, obliterating every coherent thought.

Something was bound to happen, and it wasn't far away, either.

_Destruction, total annihilation, _ she thought as she desperately tried to turn herself in midair. She managed a half-pivot to her left, and when she did so she wished she had never ventured anything like that.

Coming from the sky, out of nowhere, was a gigantic ray of light which was falling upon the village like a blur, literally cutting the atmosphere in two.

All she could do was watch powerlessly as that downright deadly beam neared its target at godspeed, thinking

_Oh God it's going to destroy everything and_

She firmly closed her eyes, banishing every thought, not wanting to witness such a dreadful tragedy, and waited for the impact.

It never came.

As Enlar slowly ventured herself to glance at the scene before her, she completely stopped breathing: the beam was still there, but something had blocked it.

Was still blocking it, in fact.

In the middle of the sky stood a girl, but she couldn't have said much about her. She was completely bound by a shimmering blue light, which seemed to emanate from her very core. That light spread from her body, forming a protective barrier around the village itself. It was there that the beam had ricocheted, halting its deadly course.

Enlar stared agape as the conflict between the two powers went on: the ray of light kept trying to breach the shining dome the girl had erected while she strenuously fought back, determined not to give up.

For a moment the beam seemed to gain force and the barrier drew back, weakened. Its light lost a little of its brightness.

_No! _ Enlar tried to scream. That girl couldn't die like that, or it would be the end.

The end of what? She didn't knew.

Her scream, however, became just a hollow thought before fading: she had no voice.

An unexpected wind thrust her towards the ground and she started falling. Unable to see if the girl was still alive and fighting, she became even more despaired: what would become of her?

Suddenly the things around her started disappearing: the houses, the trees, even the soil in which she would have crushed herself in a few instants faded to black. She lost sight of everything. All that remained was an abysmal sense of void as she kept falling endlessly, screaming in vain.

Enlar violently sat up, panting heavily. She looked around her in dismay, not really seeing where she was. The images of what she had just experienced where still burned into her mind, too horrifying to be dismissed with such ease.

_It was just a dream, nothing more._

She tried to soothe herself with her own words, closing her eyes and trying to control her breathing. In the end she managed to regain a bit of self control and remembered what had happened to her a few hours before.

She opened her eyes once more, this time eying carefully the room where she stood. Still the ruined Darkness Dragoon tower, still the makeshift table, still the hard bed in which she had slept.

Enlar exhaled the air which she had been unknowingly keeping in her lungs: that part, at least, wasn't a dream.

She touched her forehead, still dripping with cold sweat, and wondered at what she had just seen. What could have unleashed such a crazy amount of power in the form of a beam? And, more importantly, who was that girl?

Was that dream of hers a kind of premonition?

_Stop this nonsense, you just had a nightmare. A plain, simple bad dream._

_Yeah, maybe_, she told herself, still uncertain. Glancing at the window, she realised it wasn't full dark anymore. That was enough to catch her attention: she rose suddenly, all her fears forgotten, and went to the windowsill to look out.

Heavenly shades of light were beginning to colour the landscape, giving the ruins an eerie and out of time atmosphere. Enlar stood there, simply amazed by the beauty of it all. She had never seen anything like that, not in her whole short life. The silence which reigned amongst the seven towers was compelling, something which she felt was preternaturally precious.

Enlar's daydreaming was interrupted by the sight of a sack which had been left upon the table.

_That wasn't there last night,_ she wondered as she slowly opened it, her fingers trembling slightly.

What she discovered was nearly as breath-taking as the dawn outside.

Before her lay a shining dark armour, decorated with elaborated gold trimmings. Amazed, she slowly lifted what she thought was the breastplate: it was sturdy, yet incredibly light. It wasn't that kind of armour that would have slowed her down, hindering her speed.

Glancing for the last time at the clothes she had stripped off just a few hours before, she carefully started putting on her new outfit. It consisted in a pair of short boots, a short black skirt that left her legs mostly naked, and a complete upper part which wholly covered her breast and shoulders.

With that on, she already felt another person. Yet, she thought as she adjusted the last shoulder pad, there was still something missing.

She had no blade to fight with.

She quickly scanned the area around her, looking for her weapon in the far-off corners of the room: the armour had been there, so why should the sword be an exception?

"Are you looking for this?"

Enlar turned towards the entrance, surprised. There stood Rose, a long, sharp-looking rapier in her hand. The girl's eyes immediately fixed themselves on the blade: it was almost like she was being called, as if the warrior within her had already awakened.

"Yes, I think." She managed to say at last, still too amazed to do anything else.

"Are you ready to start your new life?" Rose asked, still leaning against the doorstep. Enlar nodded, trying to put all her enthusiasm in that gesture: "Ready."

"Good," the woman replied, approaching her: "You're going to need that fervour, believe me. This is all yours." She added, handing her the sword. The girl took it, relishing the touch of the hilt under her hand, and gripped it steadily. Rose simply turned towards the exit and left, gesturing for her to come along.

Enlar smiled once more and, sword in hand, eagerly followed.

The arena in which Rose took her was empty. There was no sign either of Zieg or Matthew, that guy she had met the previous night.

"Where are the others?" She felt the right to ask. Shouldn't they be training together?

"On their own. We will work separately, then compare the results after a few months." Was Rose's reply. Enlar found it odd, but said nothing. They thought such a method was right, and she was no one to disagree with their idea.

Rose unsheathed another rapier, seemingly even more deadly than the one she had been given. For a second Enlar thought it to be the Dragon Buster, the sword with which the Darkness Dragoon had slain Melbu Frahma, but then realised it was impossible. Although impressing, the sword had none of the legendary weapon's killing power within its blade. Besides, the Dragon Buster was still probably waiting for another owner in the ruins of the Divine Tree, where the Moon that Never Sets had exploded.

"Take your sword." Said Rose, interrupting her reverie. Enlar looked at her hand, puzzled: she _already_ had her sword,what did she want her to do?

"What I mean is, take _properly_ your sword." The woman added, showing her how to do it.

"Oh, right." Muttered Enlar, cursing herself for her own stupidity. What a wonderful start.

"I know you're not accustomed to fighting in your world, so we'll have to start from the very beginning." Rose went on, apparently uncaring of her consternation: "What you must learn in the first place, even before sword techniques, is to gain full control of your body."

Enlar decided to put aside her senseless worries and nodded, listening carefully.

"You see," the woman said: "Watching Matthew, I noticed that your senses are idle: you must live in a place where there's no need for sharp ears and such. You must learn to detect even the slightest sound, to analyse with your eyes what's around you. Being aware of the smallest details is something that will often save your life, remember this."

The girl nodded again, now fully engrossed in her first lesson: "How can I sharpen my senses?"

"We'll come to that little by little. It's not a sudden change, rather something that happens gradually." Replied Rose, eying her carefully: "For today, I think we'll start with some sword practice. Now, you need to learn a proper fighting stance."

The woman showed her how to do it, but Enlar didn't need many explications on that matter. She had seen Rose's fighting stance countless times while playing the game, and it was exactly as she remembered it. She raised the rapier towards her left shoulder, balancing her weight mostly on the right leg and placing her right foot slightly ahead of her left one, ready to leap forward. Rose scrutinised her intently for a few seconds, then nodded: "Exactly. From that position, you can easily launch an attack or recoil hastily, if someone attacks you. Is the sword heavy?" She asked, noticing Enlar was having some problems with keeping it lifted. The girl just shook her head, strengthening her grip on the rapier's hilt: "I'll manage. I just have to practice."

Rose didn't reply: she just set once more in her stance, raising effortlessly her own weapon: "Watch closely."

Before Enlar could say anything she bolted forward, leading the rapier in a swift blow quickly followed by a diagonal slash. She ended her move crouching slightly and immediately retreating, as if to dodge a counterattack. She had performed the whole action in a matter of instants, nothing more.

Enlar was completely overwhelmed: her speed and skill were something no videogame could ever match in an accurate way.

"That's a very basic attack, but its speed always startles the enemy, making it a rather useful move. It's called-"

"Whip smack." Enlar replied promptly. Rose frowned, a suspicious expression painted all over her face: "How do you know it?"

"That's in the game, too." The girl reminded her with a small smile.

"Oh, the game." Said Rose with a small sigh. She shook her head, looking imperceptibly amused: "Well, the more you know, the better. Today your task will be learning it. Start whenever you want."

Enlar nodded, but she was far from convinced she could do something like that. She glanced at her rapier anxiously: how was she supposed to swing it around, if she could barely bring herself to lift it?

_Enough, for God's sake. Just try._

That thought persuaded her. She gained once more her battle stance and fixed her gaze in a point a few steps ahead of where she stood.

Focusing as hard as she could, she took a deep breath and quickly leapt forward, trying to remember exactly what Rose had done. Amazingly, the first blow she delivered pierced the air swiftly, just as the woman's had done a moment earlier. This gave courage and a little bit of confidence to Enlar, who put all her energies in the following strike.

_I can do it, I just have to..._

She realised too late that she had misjudged her impetus. Unable to stop, she lost her balance and desperately tried not to lose her feet. In vain.

She fell amidst the dust, and as she hit the ground a terrible pain went through her back.

The silence which fell on Vellweb's arena, however, was even more terrible than her pain. Enlar firmly closed her eyes for a second, trying to regain a bit of composure. At last, she firmly gripped her sword once again and stood. Without saying a word, she returned to her previous place and resumed her position. Now sweat was covering her forehead and her cheek where a bright red, but she didn't care. She tried again, this time trying not to overdo it. She nearly lost her balance again, but managed not to fall. After that, she tried again. And again. And again.

Rose just stood there, silent. Her arms crossed, she leaned against the nearest wall, her sharp eyes always fixed on her pupil's every move.

Hours went by quickly. They interrupted their training just long enough for Enlar to eat something, but in the end it was at sunset Rose decided it had been enough.

When she told Enlar it was time for her to rest, the girl just nodded without saying anything else. Rose showed her what remained of a fountain where she could have refreshed herself and then left her for the time being.

Lost in her own thoughts, the woman wandered till she reached her former tower. There, she silently entered what had once been her room and gave her surroundings a nostalgic look: it had all been so different back then, when they had still been young and full of hopes. Full of dreams.

She went to the window and looked outside, as she had done countless times in that too-far past. Back then, the sight hadn't been so grim and lonesome as it now was. She fancied she could still see Vellweb's lost grandeur, the seven towers newly built and, even more importantly, inhabited. That war still to be fought, those lives still to be sacrificed. In her endless life, Rose realised, she hadn't devoted much time to mourning the loss of her friends. She had felt that, if freed, her grief would have been simply too much for her to bear. That's why she had always refused to directly think of their death, even thought the images of that atrocious day had never actually left her eyes. Now, she felt the time for grieving had come. They deserved to be remembered, her fallen comrades who had fought bravely till the very end.

Yet, on the other hand, she had to think of the present, too. Enlar's young face suddenly popped up in her mind and she smiled, amused. That first day had been good: she hadn't expected many results, but that girl had surprised her. It wasn't even the fact that she was well on the way of learning her first attack; what had truly struck her had been her attitude. The look in her eyes when she had fallen, the way she had gotten up and tried over and over again, till exhaustion. Maybe it was that she hadn't said a word, whereas many others would have started blathering excuses and saying how sorry they were and so on; she, instead, had simply picked up her sword once again, visibly hurt by her fault but still determined.

That was what Rose had admired of her.

Enlar incredibly reminded her of the person she had once been, when her innocence hadn't yet been killed by war. She suddenly realised that, training the girl as a warrior, she would probably end up in taking her own innocence, too. And if she wouldn't be the one to do it, the conflicts ahead of her would.

But was there really a choice? Enlar and Matthew were needed, and so they would have to become warriors, no matter what.

"Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to bother you."

Rose turned towards the doorstep. Enlar had just entered, her long hair still wet after the quick rinsing.

"There's no need at all to feel sorry. This is your room, after all." She replied calmly, returning her glance outside.

"Yes, but it has belonged to you for so long. It's obvious you want to spend some time here." Enlar said, approaching her. Rose gave her a quick look: on her naked legs, the only visible part of her body beneath her armour, were several cuts and abrasions, the results of that day's training. On more than one occasion, furthermore, she had fallen hitting soundly the ground with her right shoulder: probably it hurt her just to move it.

The girl, however, seemed content. She reached the windowsill and smiled, noticing the sun was setting.

"There's a beautiful view from here." She whispered, almost to herself.

"It used to be even more pretty, back when this place was still home of the seven Dragoons." Rose commented, fixing her eyes on Enlar's grey ones.

Enlar didn't lower her gaze, but when she spoke again her tone was full of comprehension: "I know. I'm not saying I can understand your grief, but I _do_ know what happened to your comrades and what you've been through since then."

The woman sarcastically raised an eyebrow: "Was it in the game, too?"

Enlar bit her lip, then shook her head: "Part of it. I guess that someone who played it superficially would be nearly clueless on the subject. It isn't directly told, one must be able to see beyond the main storyline."

"Sounds pretty far-fetched to me." Rose replied, but the girl's words kept echoing in her mind. She hadn't quite understood what she meant by _seeing beyond the main storyline_, but it somehow comforted her that not everyone could discover her tale of woe and wretchedness. Knowing what her true role had been was enough.

"I bet you were very disappointed when you first saw me." Said Enlar morosely after a while: "I would have been, too. I mean, you keep expecting someone valuable to show up in order to turn him into a powerful warrior, and then, just like that, a good-for-nothing like me arrives."

"And how exactly can you label yourself as 'good-for-nothing'?" Rose commented, staring at her with curiosity.

"How? Well, just look at today's training. I've fallen so many times I'm surprised the earth didn't just gape and engulf me." Was the girl's bitter remark.

Rose at first didn't say anything, then pushed herself away from the windowsill and took a few steps towards the entrance: "If you say so, then you must also learn to distinguish what's important in a certain kind of situation, and what isn't. Be aware of your skills, of your will. More than often, strength isn't the fundamental aspect."

Enlar lowered her eyes: "But..."

"You'll come to understand, sooner or later. I'll see you tomorrow, at dawn." Rose said upon leaving the room. Before descending the stairs, however, she turned once more.

"You did very well today."

Enlar stared at her, her eyes wide, but Rose didn't wait for a reply. She simply left, turning into a bird and flying away, high as she could in the violet-tinted sky.


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

( in which the author learns to use horizontal lines)

Matthew fell on the snow, nearly crashing his skull on a nearby rock. Zieg didn't wait for him to stand: he raised his broadsword above his throat, ready to deliver a killing blow. The young man quickly rolled over, gaining once again possession of his own weapon and setting himself on his feet. Zieg was immediately on him again: he leapt towards him, and as Matthew blocked the attack with his own blade he felt his wrists hurt painfully. He recoiled hastily, panting. That man was really an unstoppable death machine: he could already have killed him a hundredth times.

"Are you already giving up, lad? Where's your true will?" Said Zieg, mocking him. Matthew gritted his teeth and thrust himself forward, his broadsword almost a blur as he jumped towards his master. His moves were accurate, exactly as he had been taught, but even though he had improved immensely he still had no hopes of defeating Zieg. Their weapons clashed and they started to fight without the slightest pause, their blades meeting in a kind of deadly dance. Matthew put all his strength in his blows, tried to foresee Zieg's moves, but to no avail. No matter how much he tried, the man's skill was uncanny: it was simple, but never predictable. It was always like that: when he thought he had finally understood a way to breach his defenses, Zieg suddenly did something he would never have expected.

For a moment the man, after delivering a particularly strong blow, left his chest unguarded. Matthew saw the occasion and wasted no time: he was certain he could do it. It was a easy hit, he would succeed.

Instead, he didn't even have the time to lift his sword. Zieg crouched and kicked his calf, a move so sudden that Matthew seemed to realize only when he was already on the ground, once again covered by that damned snow.

"Dead." Said Zieg, stopping his sword just a few inches from the young man's throat. "Damn, you and your little jokes." Muttered Matthew, removing the man's blade and sitting up.

"You're right, I should stop doing that. I'm sure that every enemy you'll encounter will behave nicely and play fair with you, so there's no need for all of this." Replied the man, a mocking grin spread across his face.

Matthew sighed. Zieg was right, naturally, but he could simply no longer stand training all day long. It was all they did: wake up at dawn, start training, eat something, go on training, finish at sunset, throw yourself in your bed –nearly dead out of exhaustion- and start again the following morning. That routine had been going on for months, now.

They had at least moved their training base to the Snow Fields, but still.

"Listen, Zieg," He started saying, getting to his feet, but the man quickly raised his hands in an exasperated gesture: "Oh no, please, don't start complaining all over again."

"But I have the right to! I can't stay here forever, I need to do _something_ besides training! Really, it's been months since that girl arrived, let alone since _I _arrived, and this place is as far as I've ventured myself." He said, his voice becoming rather loud. Zieg slowly shook his head: "We've already talked about this. You're still not ready, you can't even think of going anywhere."

"Oh, right. Let's wait until this threat we're here to stop is already destroying the continent, and then it will be time. It can't hurt to wait some more, can it?" Matthew replied sarcastically. He knew complaining wasn't the sort of thing that would have granted him any success, but he was truly fed up of doing nothing. What if that presumed danger was already slowly spreading in Endiness, unnoticed? Where were the warriors who could stop it? But _training_, naturally. Where else?

Don't worry, people, when you'll be already half dead we'll come and vanquish the evil for once and for all.

A pat on his shoulder interrupted his inner arguments. He found himself staring into Zieg's eyes, which were surprisingly full of comprehension.

"I know how you must feel. I've been in the same situation, long ago, when all my race was still treated worse than animals. Back then I was still young, had no power at all and had to watch powerlessly as everyone died. As my family died, at that."

At those last words, Matthew stiffened noticeably. Zieg frowned:" Are you alright?"

At first he didn't answer, then lowered his eyes and shrugged: "Fine, I'm fine. I'm sorry, I didn't want to sound childish, but I truly think I've had enough training. Besides, you can't learn everything just by staying in the same place. Am I right?"

"Sure, experience is something a true warrior can't lack. I assure you, soon enough you will have the possibility to travel and see the world with your own eyes." Zieg said in a reassuring voice. The young man shrugged again, sheathing his sword: "Yeah, sooner or later. Sure."

He started to walk away in Vellweb's direction, deeply lost into his own thoughts.

"Just mark my words: reality out there isn't what you think it is. The same can be said for war, but I guess you'll see it for yourself someday. I wish you wouldn't, but I bet we won't be that lucky."

Matthew stopped, seemed to consider those words, then turned to face Zieg and shot him a bitter glance: "Maybe I know. Maybe that's what I'm looking for."

Zieg frowned, concerned, but the young man turned away from him and resumed walking. The man followed him, not liking a bit what he had just heard.

* * *

Zieg joined Rose where they usually sat, at night, when both their pupils where resting after the wearing day of exercise. When he spotted her, totally concealed by shadows, the disturbing feeling that had been creeping in his mind all day long seemed to subdue. Even though months had already passed since they had reunited, he still regarded her as a kind of miracle.

She had always been his personal miracle, from the very beginning.

He remembered clearly that night in the Evergreen Forest: he had been wandering aimlessly, his heart full of dismay. They had started gathering people at Fort Magrad, building a rebellion in hopes of defeating the winglies. At first he had been joyous with the results: several persons had arrived, armed both with weapons and courage. They had sworn their loyalty to Emperor Diaz's cause, determined to regain their freedom.

The problems had started when their skills had actually been tested. Only a few of them, in fact, knew how to handle the weapon they had brought along.

Zieg had lost much of his enthusiasm: they were building an army of farm men, people with no experience at all in fighting. They needed training, but there was absolutely no time for that. How could they supposedly have won a war against creatures that could harness magic?

That's why he had adventured himself in the forest in the first place. He had needed some time to think, to find the will to carry on that suicidal madness.

Then, in the middle of the night, he had heard the unmistakable sounds of a fight nearby. He had approached carefully, wanting to analyze the situation without being noticed.

That was when he had first seen her. Surrounded by wingly warriors, her rapier in hand, she had been fighting with grace and an uncanny speed, managing to kill many of her enemies. What had really caught Zieg's attention, however, had been her silent determination. At first he had kept his distance, but then, when the last of the winglies had hit her with a spell, he had waited no more. His sword had pierced the enemy's chest, preventing him from delivering the last blow.

The woman had looked into his eyes, firmly, as if she didn't fear anything in the whole world. In those eyes Zieg had seen the answer he had been looking for: he would have to find a way to help his own race, no matter at what cost. The ardor which he had seen in that woman's every single move, in a battle where she had already been doomed, had been enough to tell him not to give up.

He had brought her to Magrad, where Rose had ended up becoming one of the fiercest warriors of Emperor Diaz's army and, at the same moment, the most important person in Zieg's life.

Now, even after eleven thousand years, she still retained that resolve which had attracted him in the first place. She glanced at him, her lips slowly curving in a slight smile.

"You're late, sir. Didn't anyone tell you not to keep a lady waiting?"

He approached her and kissed her, laughing: "I'm so sorry, _lady_. Thou should not be treated in such a vile manner. How can I gain thy mercy?"

"Well," replied Rose, trying to keep a stern expression: "I still have to think about it. I'm not sure I can forgive you."

Zieg laughed again, heartily this time: "Hey, how come you're so adorable all of a sudden?"

Rose smiled again: "I just noticed there was something tormenting you. I wanted to cheer you up, that's all."

He embraced her, keeping her close: "Thanks, you've succeeded. Anyway, I guess teaching puts you in a good mood."

"Maybe. Won't you tell me what was that anguished you?"

Zieg sighed, shaking his head: "It's nothing new. Just Matthew and his complaints. However…" He interrupted himself, as if uncertain of what to say next: "Something he said today disturbed me. It's almost as if he knows the danger that may lie ahead, and yet he wants to face it. He said that's what he's looking for."

Rose said nothing, waiting for him to voice what truly worried him. Eventually, Zieg did: "I'm not training him to send him to a certain death. If that's what he's looking for, an easy way out of everything, then he's not going anywhere. Not now, and not even in a thousand years."

"You jump to conclusions too fast." Replied Rose after a while: "he doesn't seem that kind of person: probably he's just fed up of staying here. He could have killed himself on countless occasions if he really wanted to, right? Trust me, when he'll finally leave this place he's gonna regret the peaceful training hours."

"I hope you're right." Zieg replied with a sigh. He also thought Matthew's words to be the result of a moment of uneasiness, in which he had said things that in the end weren't real.

"We could satisfy him." Rose said suddenly.

Zieg watched her intently: "What do you mean?"

"It's been nearly nine months since they started their training, more or less." She explained: "Maybe it's really time to test their skills and competences, not to mention work on their cooperation. Team work is something they totally lack."

"Are you saying they're ready to go on their own?" Zieg was stupefied.

"Enlar is. Matthew shouldn't have problems, having even more training on his side." Rose replied with a small shrug. Zieg seemed to consider this, then raised an eyebrow: "You're very confident on her skills."

She smiled, apparently amused: "You'll see for yourself. So, what do you say?"

The man stood silent for a long time, pondering the fact. In the end he gazed at the moon above him, its light illuminating feebly his traits: "Not without a test."

"A test? You mean a fight between them?" Rose asked. When Zieg nodded, she seemed to consider the idea for a little; then, she stood: "Alright. Tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow?" Zieg repeated. Of course, he thought the fight to be a good idea, but _tomorrow_ seemed somehow too near.

"Yes, so they will be totally unprepared. I think their fight will be more spontaneous if we act immediately." Was Rose's short reply.

"Very well. Tomorrow, then." Zieg said. Even though he had never seen Enlar fighting, he was almost sure Matthew would have had no problems at dealing with her. Sure, he still couldn't beat him, but Zieg would have been surprised of the contrary.

Rose nodded, another small smile making its way on her lips: "You're going to be surprised."

* * *

Outside her window, the sky was completely filled with stars. Enlar looked up, surrounded by darkness, her eyes gleaming as she contemplated that wonderful sight. Even after all those months, she still couldn't get used to nature's everlasting beauty: the silence that reigned in the ruins, the piercing splendor of the night sky, the very air she breathed. She often stayed awake long after sunset, her heart easing itself with the incoming shadows.

Enlar smiled at the thought. She had never been afraid of dark, not even as a little child. Sometimes, she recalled, she would wander around her house with the lights off, trying to find the right way just by using her senses. Never managing to make it, unfortunately. Enlar, in fact, would end up bumping against something –a piece of furniture, the stairs' banister, even her piano- and would inevitably find a new bruise the day after.

_Now, things have indeed changed_, she mused, still gazing at the sky. When Rose had first told her about sharpening her senses, she hadn't even fully understood what the woman meant. Then, one night, Rose had awoken her.

* * *

"Come, we're going to do some extra training." Was the only reply Rose gave to Enlar's questions. The girl got out of her bed, quickly regaining her awareness, and followed her master outside. Enlar, however, did so not without finding difficulties: that night even the moon had decided not to show up, and so Vellweb was enveloped in the thickest darkness she had ever seen. Rose, apparently gifted with the eyes of a cat, didn't bother much of her surroundings, simply leading her towards an even darker area. There, she stopped.

"Be ready to fight." She whispered, then Enlar heard the faint sound of her rapier being unsheathed. She had barely time to take her own weapon when she felt Rose upon her, ready to strike. The girl raised her sword, avoiding being beheaded just for a few inches. She felt another blow coming, this time from her left, and quickly dodged. Then, her breath was suddenly cut short by a hard punch in her abdomen.  
"What…" She mumbled, desperately trying to see where Rose was. It was no use: even though her eyes had slightly adjusted, it was too dark to really see anything.

"You're not supposed to see." She heard the woman's voice saying somewhere behind her.

"What you must do to save your life is _feel_, Enlar. Consider yourself blind, just use your ears."

Enlar took a deep breath, trying to close her eyes.

_You make it sound so easy,_ she thought, then obliged herself to listen. At first the only thing she heard was Vellweb's cold, night breeze. Other than that, everything seemed perfectly silent.

Then, suddenly, she fancied she could hear an almost imperceptible breathing on her right. She gripped her sword steadily, and when Rose's rapier pierced the air she immediately blocked it. The woman, however, didn't stop at the first assault. She kept attacking and retreating, coming every time from a different direction. Her blows gradually became quicker, harder to predict. Enlar was now totally focused on every single sound she heard; even though she was still unable to land any hits, those which she blocked or dodged where increasing rapidly. After a long while, when her panting had become constant, Rose stopped.

"Enough." She murmured, approaching her and placing a hand on her shoulder. Enlar dripped sweat from her forehead, still out of breath: "This is… extremely hard at first. I never thought… I would have managed to hear those sounds."

Rose smiled, unnoticed: "Well, but eventually you did. Remember, having sharp ears is essential."

* * *

Those kind of lessons had been especially weary, but also enlightening. Now, in that kind of situation, she could not only block Rose's attacks, but also reply with speed and precision, almost as with daylight.

Enlar glanced at her rapier, slightly shaking her head. How could she have changed so much in those last months?

_From lazy student to skilled warrior,_ she thought amusedly. Nobody, in her world, would have believed in something like that. She had always been a bookworm, a videogame player, a pianist: all things considerably distant from any form of physical effort. And now, only after a short span of time, she could hold a sword in her hand and proudly tell herself that she even knew how to use it.

It hadn't been easy at all, and at first the pain in her unaccustomed body had been too much to bear; but then, slowly, she had started seeing some improvements. Rose, besides, had always been by her side, ready to help and give advice, even if in her personal way.

After all that time spent together, Enlar could confirm what she had always thought from having played the videogame: Rose was a wonderful person, with a whole world of feelings just like others. The only thing was, she kept them hidden within her and shared them only with the closest ones. Such as Zieg.

Enlar thought of him: she didn't know that much about the man, but had immediately understood why Rose had fallen in love with him in the first place. He seemed someone totally reliable, always ready to smile to cheer others up, but also capable of great authority when required.

It didn't surprise her he had been chosen as the leader of the Dragoons, a long time ago.

Besides, the way he still looked at Rose was nearly moving: as if she were something precious, which he had formerly lost and then, after unspeakable sufferings, found once again.

Soft footsteps on the stairs leading to her chamber caught her attention. Enlar, however, kept staring at the sky above her. When Rose entered, she smiled: "Time for another night shift?"

"Nothing like that." The woman added, smiling herself. She took a seat on the girl's bed, crossing her arms and looking at her pupil intently. Enlar shot her a curious glance: "Is there anything I should know?"

"What would you say," Rose enquired: "If tomorrow you were to fight against Matthew?"

Enlar stared at her, her eyes slightly wide: "Against Matthew? Tomorrow? Well, I don't know if…"

"Oh, nonsense." Replied the woman, silencing her with a gesture: "You are fully capable of this, I have no doubt. You just have to go there and show what you've learned, nothing more than that."

"Rose," Enlar said, shaking her head and smiling: "Sometimes I think you overestimate me way too much. I've never fought anyone except you, I can't be so self-confident."

The woman simply raised an eyebrow: "Let me decide what's right. I know a warrior when I see it."

Enlar sighed: "If you say so… but will Matthew accept?"

"Don't worry about it," Rose added, raising from her bed: "I'm positive he will."


	10. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Matthew checked once more his broadsword, letting the blade gleam lightly with each sunray. He was waiting for Zieg just outside his tower, impatiently switching his weight from one foot to the other. When the man had shown up in his room, the night before, Matthew had thought he had still wanted to nag him for his complaints.

"I told you I'm sorry, there's no need to go on with this-" He had started muttering, preventing Zieg from saying anything, but the man had quickly shaken his head.

"It's nothing like that, don't worry."

Matthew had sighed: "Then what?"

Zieg had merely crossed his arms, grinning: "I've just talked to Rose, and…"

Matthew had bolted up from his bed, turning to face his master: "Talked about what?"

"The subject was what you complain about all day long. We decided that, maybe, you and Enlar are ready to leave Vellweb."

At this, Matthew had been totally thunderstruck: "Really? I mean, you're not making fun of me, are you?"

"I'm totally serious, young lad. Nevertheless, there's a condition." Had been Zieg's reply. Matthew had started laughing, too overwhelmed of having just obtained what he had practically been begging for.

"Anything, I'll do anything. I could even marry you in this precise moment, Zieg."

"What you'll have to do" his master had went on: "Is challenge Enlar in a fight. Tomorrow morning."

Matthew had stopped laughing, frowning at him: "A fight? With snot- I mean, with that girl?" When Zieg had nodded, he had grinned sarcastically: "Just that? Perfect, I absolutely have no problem."

Zieg had inquiringly raised an eyebrow: "How can you be so confident if you've never even seen her fight?"

Matthew had just waved a hand in an indifferent gesture: "I'll manage, she can't be that good."

Now, however, just a few minutes before the actual confrontation, his anxiety had started raising.

_Matthew, calm down, _he told himself, unconsciously strengthening his grip on the broadsword's hilt.

_It's just a simple fight with snotty brat. What can possibly go wrong?_

Nothing at all, he thought. All he had to do was unsheathe his weapon and teach that girl a lesson or two. It was basically impossible for her to have improved so much as to have become an actual threat.

Still, he discovered he was unable to calm himself. Moreover, Zieg was inexplicably late: he had been told to wait for him outside his tower, but he was nowhere to be seen.

At last Matthew spotted him: he was flying towards him, in bird form. As soon as he reached him, he transformed and smiled: "Sorry if I kept you waiting. Are you ready?"

"You bet, I thought you had deserted me." Replied Matthew, trying to hide his nervousness. Heck, what was he afraid of?

"Good. Come, then. The ladies are waiting."

Zieg turned away from him and started walking towards the arena. Matthew shook his head, as if to clear his mind, and went after him.

* * *

"Are you nervous?" Rose asked Enlar.

"I'm fine. Maybe just a little, but I guess that's normal." Was her reply. They were already in the arena, waiting for Zieg and Matthew's arrival. The sun above Enlar was almost burning, managing to warm even Vellweb's usually icy air. It appeared summer had the same effects in every world: longer days and scorching heat.

Enlar found she was sweating. She inhaled deeply, shielding her eyes with her hand to look around her.

"Here they are." Rose said immediately after. Enlar noticed them: they were descending the many spiraling stone steps that ended in that training ground. Zieg was the first, immediately followed by the young man she had met the night she had arrived. Despite having seen him just once, she remembered him well and immediately noticed how much he had changed. His hair was long, falling just above his shoulders. These had become broad and sturdy-looking, probably due to all the training. Overall, he looked rather fearsome. Enlar, however, didn't worry herself so much. One of the first things she had been told, after all, was that strength wasn't always the key to win a fight.

When they joined them, Enlar immediately noticed something else: Matthew was nervous, perhaps even more than she was. He, however, tried to hide what he felt behind a stern expression.

Zieg, on the other hand, greeted them with a huge smile. It became even more marked when he fixed his eyes on Enlar. After a brief moment, he couldn't help laughing: "My girl, you've changed so much! You exactly look like a certain someone a couple years ago…"

Rose shot him a cold glare as Enlar smiled: "Thanks."

"Well, enough with wasting time." The woman said suddenly: "Are you ready to get started?"

Enlar's smile faded immediately, leaving only space to a serious expression: "I am."

"Me too." Added Matthew, taking a step forward and eying Enlar with something akin to contempt.

"Then, go to the center of the arena. We'll be watching from here." Said Zieg, giving a small pat on both their shoulders.

Enlar and Matthew nodded, silently placing themselves at a certain distance from each other at the exact heart of that place.

They stood like that for interminable seconds, staring at each other, then they almost simultaneously drew their swords.

Enlar raised her rapier effortlessly, remembering just for a split second how even that simple action had seemed impossible just a few months before. She readied herself, totally focused on her opponent. It was no surprise his stance was similar to the one Dart used during the game.

Matthew abruptly broke the silence: "Ladies first."

Enlar raised an eyebrow, amused: "There's no need to be formal"

"Ladies first." He repeated, this time harshly.

_As you wish,_ Enlar thought. Without further waiting she leapt forward, her rapier ready to land the first strike.

* * *

Before Matthew could realize the true fight had begun, their swords clashed. He clumsily managed to block the first attack, taken aback by her speed.

_By God, not even Zieg could attack so rapidly!_

However, he had no time to think: Enlar immediately delivered a second blow, this one diagonal, forcing him to block once again. When he finally found a space for counterattacking, she had already recoiled hastily, resuming her previous position.

Matthew regarded her, confusion painted all over his face. Her hits hadn't been particularly strong, but their speed… she had doubled him effortlessly, even managing to regain a safe position before he could attempt anything.

How was it possible? He couldn't have said. Just a few minutes before, he had been certain of his victory; now, reality seemed to flow through his veins, chilling his sweat. The discomforting silence which fell upon them, however, interrupted his trance: he started running forward, raising his broadsword. He wouldn't let her win so easily. He violently hit her with all his strength, and for a second he thought he could hear the impact on her right wrist. He lost no time to consider that: he immediately landed a second slash, then another and another, quickly pivoting and rotating his broadsword. Enlar blocked the first three hits, then suddenly sidestepped deciding to dodge the last one. That left Matthew slightly unbalanced, since the last strike was the one in which he had put most of his power. Enlar was on him immediately: she started to strike like a blur, jumping and crouching as her rapier drew large arcs in the air and collided with Matthew's blade.

He immediately understood he would have never been able to block every hit, so he started recoiling. Seeing that, Enlar leaped again and thrust her rapier horizontally. Matthew crouched just in time to avoid the fatal hit, so that her sword ended up cutting a lock of his hair. He rolled away, trying to get to her back, but she was not going to let him. She threw herself against him, but this time Matthew was prepared. Managing to block her rapier by holding his sword with just one hand, he used the other to firmly grab her wrist. He felt her surprise and wasted no time, bringing her even closer while trying to twist her hand.

Their eyes met just for a second, then Enlar stopped trying to free herself. She thrust her whole weight forward, unbalancing Matthew so that they both fell on the ground. Enlar was on her feet in a matter of seconds, regaining a certain distance.

Matthew got up, quickly removing the locks of hair that had fallen in front of his eyes. He watched carefully as his opponent readied herself for another attack: they were both panting.

After another second of silent pause they resumed their deadly moves, both with inextinguishable determination.

* * *

Zieg and Rose silently watched as the fight went on. The man, however, still couldn't bring himself to believe at was he was seeing. Enlar wasn't only good: she was nearly _outstanding_. From her very first move, even from the way she had raised her weapon, Zieg had immediately understood how far she had come. Nonetheless, he was certain it wasn't all thanks to her training.

"She was predisposed, right? Even her soul is that of a warrior." He asked Rose, without diverting his eyes from the two young fighters.

She nodded: "Yes. She has learned amazingly fast, developing her innate speed and accuracy. Matthew is good, too, but I'm afraid he lacks the warrior's inclination. That, however, doesn't mean he won't become a good fighter: he already is. Only, he needs even more determination to keep up."

Zieg crossed his arms, eying Matthew as he once again retreated against a swift series of Enlar's attacks.

What Rose said was true, every word of it.

It was hard to accept, but Matthew would have to work even harder. It wasn't anyone's fault, the young man had striven himself to death in order to achieve what he was now capable of. Still, it wasn't enough.

Zieg shook his head, clearing his mind. Apart from that small aspect, they were both very good fighters. In that short period they had improved considerably, for people who had never even seen a proper weapon. Or so they said. He felt that they would be able to face whatever menace would have soon landed upon Endiness. They still had an important part of their training ahead of them, though.

He found himself staring at Enlar, and for the hundredth time her slender and young silhouette reminded him of the woman he had met in the forest so long ago. The resemblance was uncanny: Rose had taught her the same moves she used, even the same way to hold her rapier. Enlar's hair was long and brown, and her eyes a weird but attractive shade of grey; these details, however, were irrelevant for Zieg's mind. He had no problems in imagining that hair raven black, those eyes two bottomless pits of pure darkness.

"She's so like you that it hurts to look at her. It's like being in that damned war all over again." He whispered, almost to himself, but Rose heard him all the same.

She smiled: "It's not my fault. It seemed natural to teach her exactly how I fought and, besides, she seemed enthusiast." She stopped for a moment, slightly bending her head on her left: "You know, it's almost as if she… really enjoys being with me. Sometimes I get the impression she plainly adores me. Don't ask me, I… what?" She said, noticing that Zieg was laughing warmly.

"Zieg. I'm being serious." Rose retorted.

He just shook his head once more: "I'm sorry, I can't help it. Rosie dear, Is it so hard for you to believe that there _are_ people who love you? There's nothing weird in that, as I've already told you."

Rose glared at him: "Don't call me like that. I simply hate it."

"Fine, fine." Zieg replied, but his grin didn't fade. He returned his glance towards the fight still taking place and noticed how exhausted they both were.

Soon there would be a winner.

* * *

Enlar avoided another violent strike and recoiled, trying to regain her breath. She was weary, too weary to go on. She would have to finish that fight soon, otherwise she wouldn't have been able to keep up with Matthew's assaults. True, he was way slower than her, but his blows were mighty. She could no longer block a whole series of them: her wrist was on fire and she wasn't nearly as good with the left hand. So she had to dodge constantly, and all those moves were quickly consuming her energies. Matthew seemed to understand her conditions and surprisingly found even more strength within himself. The following hit was so powerful it nearly unarmed her. Enlar jumped back again, almost nearing the arena's wall, and feverishly tried to think of what to do.

For a second she met Matthew's eyes and understood at once what was driving his strikes.

He could never have accepted to lose against her. It was written all over his face, and now Enlar realized that the scorn with which he had eyed her before had been real.

_But why?_ She asked herself, nervously biting her lip. It couldn't be out of jealousy for what she knew: that would be childish.

Another blow reminded her of her precarious state, and Enlar decided to leave that problem for later.

Now, she had to think.

She wanted to win, she _knew_ she could win. She had done so much, she felt like she owed that victory to Rose and to herself.

Enlar was still thinking, dodging every hit in the meanwhile, when it suddenly came to her.

She would have to do something so unpredictable that Matthew wouldn't even have the possibility to reply. And Enlar thought she had that something.

It was dangerous, though. She still hadn't mastered that move, the hardest she had ever seen, and a mistake could be deadly.

She could even fall0 on the ground, amidst the dust, with no chance whatsoever to stand again. Just like that first day, during her first attempt. That, however, had been training. This wasn't, and she knew her choice would have determined the outcome of the whole fight.

Nonetheless, she would try. There wasn't anything she could do.

"What's wrong, is the little girl tired?" Matthew mockingly said, his words nearly inaudible due to his constant panting.

Enlar didn't even care to reply. She was lost in her own mind, trying to achieve that degree of interior steadiness necessary to perform such an attack. Matthew's hateful stare, however, didn't help. Thus, taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and let her body move with the only help of her senses, exactly how Rose had taught her during their night trainings.

At fists it was terrible: Enlar heard too many things, and was also partially worried of being hit. However, as she went on listening, she found it amazingly easy to follow Matthew's moves. He was noisy, he carried a heavy weapon, and wasn't even taking advantage of her lack of sight. Maybe, she thought, he was so enraged he didn't even think coherently anymore.

"Hey, are you sleeping or what?"

_Focus, don't waste your time_, she fancied she heard Rose's voice saying. And so she did, rejecting every thought and dodging almost passively.

This time it didn't take her much before finding what she sought. Enlar took hold of that power, feeling it in her hands just like something consistent. And slowly opened her eyes.

She saw Matthew, saw that he was charging towards her like a fury, and thrust herself forward. He faltered, startled by her sudden leap, so that Enlar immediately blocked his assault and struck. Her steps were light and quick, her rapier raising and falling with precision. Enlar felt her body move at an amazing speed, as if she had no weight, and understood she was succeeding. Matthew tried to block her blows, desperately swinging his broadsword, but she kept spinning and hitting like a typhoon. It was almost like a dance, a series of deadly moves that retained their perfect harmony. The sixth slash sent Matthew's broadsword into the sky, where it stood still for a moment before falling in the brown earth below.

Even before Matthew could realize what had just happened, the last hit sent him sprawling on the ground. Enlar, concluding the move, made a slight variation and placed her rapier right underneath the young man's throat.

Silence fell on the arena, interrupted only by the two warriors' heavy breaths.

Enlar stood perfectly still, gazing at Matthew.

_Demon's Dance,_ she thought, and smiled.

She had made it. Had won her first fight.

Inhaling deeply, she looked at her rapier. It was a wonderful sensation, something that could be compared both with relish and satisfaction. Something she had achieved with her strength only.

Enlar swiftly sheathed her rapier, stepping back from Matthew. Still watching him, she offered him her hand.

Silence again, interrupted soon after by approaching footsteps.

Matthew eyed the hand as if it were an insect, hurt painfully showing in his eyes, then angrily rose on his own: "I don't need your help."

Enlar simply lowered her arm without adding anything. She had expected it, but had wanted to try anyway.

In that moment, Zieg and Rose joined them. The man approached Matthew, a grave yet gentle expression on his face: "It was a good fight, for both of you. You've fulfilled our expectations, and that's what matters. There's no loser today."

He gave him a pat on the shoulder, but Matthew unkindly shoved his hand away: "I don't fucking care. I don't need anyone's charity."

"Matthew…"

"Just leave me alone, will you?" He retorted, looking around for his sword. When he spotted it, he crossly bent to pick it up and started towards the stairs.

Enlar followed him with her eyes, shaking her head: "Maybe…"

"No, he's right. Let him be." Replied Zieg with a shrug: "He didn't expect it. He'll be fine in a couple hours. After all, he's not a kid anymore."

He returned his glance on Enlar and smiled: "Let me tell you, you've surprised me. Yours is truly a gift, you must be proud of it."

"He's right. You are gifted, and you did a wonderful job." Said Rose, almost warmly. Enlar turned to face her, a surprised smile on her face: "I… thanks so much. Although I must say, I hardly doubt my 'gift' would have saved me today without your lessons."

"Maybe, or maybe not." Rose replied with a shrug: "What matters now is, we're glad you and Matthew have come this far. You're ready to leave this place and start your first journey."

Zieg nodded: "Yes, and I'm sure you'll make an unbeatable team together."

At this Enlar frowned: "Do you think so? I don't know, _something_ tells me he doesn't like me much." She added ironically.

"Nonsense, you barely know each other. You'll see, just wait." The man reassuringly replied.

Enlar could only nod, but her eyes returned once more to where Matthew had disappeared, bitterly carrying along his sword and his sorrow.


	11. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Enlar checked again the small package she had prepared. There wasn't much inside: dried food, two water bags, some money, a couple of bandages and, lastly, her hairpin. It was the only thing she had from her previous life, the last remnant of the other world. Enlar couldn't bring herself to actually wear it, too afraid of losing it forever. That hairpin was precious, a treasured gift she had always carried along like a good luck charm. She smiled, looking at the small object: it was still with her, even in another world. Its heart-shaped, transparent and prism-like surface reflected the first rays of dawn, telling Enlar that it was time to go. She closed her bag, looked around her for something she could have forgotten, and didn't find anything.

Her sword by her side, she left her tower without looking back.

* * *

The air outside was cool, raising goosebumps in her slender legs. As soon as she stepped down the last stair, she saw Rose waiting for her. She was leaning on the wall, as usual, and appeared lost in thought. Enlar gave her a little smile: she hadn't said much on the fight, but those few words had been enough. Rose had told her she had done a good job, had behaved properly; for Enlar, having her master's appraisal was as much as she could ask.

Then, she had told her about the journey. She and Matthew would have travelled, on their own, just as far as the Death Frontier. There, after spotting the ruins of the Divine Tree, they would search for the Red Eyed and Darkness Dragoon spirits.

Rose and Zieg, indeed, were certain those spirits were still somewhere beneath those sands. Their mission would be to find them and return to Vellweb.

Enlar had welcomed this new task with both enthusiasm and anxiety. The Death Frontier was no playing ground. She still remembered the unnerving hours she had spent there while playing the game, falling in those damned whirlpools at least a thousand times. Let alone the monsters, who had kept cropping up from every corner.

If that desert expanse was somewhat like the game, they would indeed have fun there.

On the other hand, she really longed to find out whether the Darkness Dragoon's spirit would have recognized her. With that, she could have obtained the power to harness magic, to control dragons…and to fly. That was what she desired the most: to soar high above everything, lost in the endless sky.

"I remember my first journey. I was so thrilled of seeing the world!" Rose said, raising her eyes to the heavens above. She smiled bitterly, shaking her head: "I was still very young and naïve, innocent enough to believe everything was beautiful and harmless. What a fool."

Enlar laid a hand on the banister in front of her, feeling the hard consistency of the stone on her skin: "Maybe, but that's the beauty of childhood. You have no worries, you're just happy with small things. You don't know anything at all, you believe in everything people tell you. In my world, kids often don't understand how precious their innocence is. They want to be grown-ups, to act and talk like they do. I find it… very sad indeed." She murmured, remembering how small kids nowadays used to swear at you; how little girls hardly out of their diapers put on a ton of makeup and went after boys, maybe ending up raped.

"You're right, it's not something to be joyous of." Rose replied, pushing herself away from the wall with a sigh. She raised her head and watched intently at the horizon. Following her gaze, Enlar spotted Zieg flying towards them. The man landed and transformed, a flashing grin on his face: "Good morning, my lady warrior. Is everything ready for your little journey?"

Enlar couldn't help herself smiling. Zieg was always so cheerful! She nodded: "Yes, I'm all set. What about Matthew?"

The man's smile didn't fade: "He's ready, too. Waiting for us at the entrance, actually." Noticing the girl's look, he quickly added: "He's alright, don't worry. I don't think he's mad at you."

The two women simultaneously raised their eyebrows in a surprised gesture. Zieg started laughing: "Well, ok, maybe he is. I wouldn't consider it a problem, though. You'll eventually get along. But, by Soa, stop acting like that! You're _identical." _He said, almost wiping tears from his eyes.

Rose and Enlar glanced at each other. The former just shrugged and shook her head: "You're mad, Zieg. Let me tell you."

This time they laughed together, heartily. When their giggles subsided, they headed towards Vellweb's entrance together.

* * *

Matthew sat on a rock, his chin on his knuckles, and thought. That hadn't been an easy night for him. When he had no longer felt his broadsword in his hands, the previous day, he had understood what he feared the most had happened.

He had lost, and badly. And he had been so angry, angry with Zieg and Rose, angry with snotty brat for having defeated him so. That girl was seriously getting on his nerves. How could he possibly endure a journey with her?

Thankfully, those long hours had given him time to calm down. When Zieg had come to tell him of their oncoming adventure, he had been tranquil enough to apologize and accept every word his mentor had said.

Now he was waiting, too relieved of finally leaving that place to feel mad. He would finally see more of that other world, in hopes of obtaining even more power.

Too bad he had to do so in company of snotty brat.

Matthew suddenly saw them coming and rose, adjusting his belongings absentmindedly. There they were, all smiles and giggles. He sometimes wondered how could they possibly find time to smile, in times like those.

_Are you jealous of their happiness?_ A voice inside him implied.

He frowned: where had that come from? Nonsense. There was nothing to be jealous of.

They approached him silently. It was Zieg, as usual, the one to break the silence: "Matthew, Enlar. It's time for you to go. If you have something to ask…"

They both shook their head. The man then nodded: "Good. Then, I wish you good luck."

Rose gave them a brief, serious glance: "Always on your toes. Lower your guard and you'll find yourself with your throat cut. Clear?"

"Clear." Enlar replied. Matthew just nodded, then turned away and started walking.

Enlar watched him, then sent a last glance to Zieg and Rose: "Goodbye."

She went after him, and they soon disappeared in the snowy fields beyond.

* * *

Enlar kept following Matthew, just a few steps behind him. He was walking hastily in the snow, and she thought that if he kept that pace he would probably end up breaking his neck on that slippery soil. Still, she didn't say a word and kept walking behind him, more sedately.

Matthew seemed very self-confident, as if he had ventured in those places countless times before. He walked with his head straight, barely throwing a glance at his surroundings. Enlar wasn't sure it was the appropriate way to walk in a place like that. She, on the other hand, was marveled by the landscapes: she came from a place where snow almost never fell, and when it did everyone just stared at it with their eyes wide and their mouth open in surprise. That kind of climate was totally new to her, and so she took her time to analyze every little aspect of it.

Enlar was so focused on her exploration that she didn't hear the noise at first. When it came back, though, she immediately froze in place, her hand on her rapier's hilt.

Matthew, however, just went on. Apparently, he hadn't heard anything.

"Matthew?" Enlar whispered, afraid of being heard by something else. For there _was _something else, she was certain of it. Probably a monster, nothing worrying, but better safe than sorry.

He either didn't hear or chose to ignore her, not even slowing down.

"Matthew!" She repeated, this time louder.

It was near, somewhere ahead of them, ready to strike.

Matthew groaned and turned to face her, annoyed: "Can't you keep that mouth shut for a while?"

"You fool, there's-" She abruptly fell silent, noticing a huge pile of snow falling behind him. She barely had time to jump over Matthew, throwing him on the left, before a huge mammoth-like creature charged forward, stomping the ground where they had stood only a few seconds before.

"What the hell are you…" Matthew started muttering, but then the monster's scream silenced him. Enlar was up in a flash, facing the enormous fiend with her rapier. Understanding suddenly what had happened, Matthew quickly joined her.

The mammoth continued to growl, shaking his head in blind fury. It charged again, but this time the two warriors were prepared. As soon as the creature missed, they both started delivering fierce blows. The mammoth's following cry was full of surprise and agony: it immediately tried to hit them again, but all of its struggles were in vain. It was quickly dispatched, and its huge body collapsed on the ground with a loud thump.

Enlar silently watched it die, and wasn't surprised to find a total void within her. It was only a monster: things such as pity were pointless in that case.

What she felt, however, was rage. She whirled briskly towards Matthew: "Why didn't you stop immediately? Weren't you paying attention?"

He raised an eyebrow, looking peeved: "I _was _paying attention. You were distracting me, or I would have noticed that thing even before you!"

"Oh, so you say. I guess I'm the one who should apologize, then." She replied sardonically. "Maybe next time I should let the monsters kill you."

"Listen," he said, suddenly nearing her and grabbing her by her shoulders: "Just to make things clear, I can't stand you. You just mind your own business and keep away from me. My life doesn't concern you."

Enlar, surprised, stared for a moment into his green eyes. Then she violently pushed him away, freeing herself: "Is that so? Fine, the feeling is mutual. I won't bother you anymore."

Matthew looked at her for a while longer, then nodded and resumed walking.

Enlar shook her head and followed him. Her journey would undoubtedly be full of peace and happiness, after a start like that.

* * *

Night came soon. They camped in a small clearing they had found in the Evergreen Forest, as far as they had travelled for that day. Taking another route, they could even have reached Deningrad before sunset; the Death Frontier, however, was in the opposite direction. Their current path went south, deep in the forest, and they could afford no diversions.

Matthew, stopping suddenly in that clearing, had looked around: "What are we supposed to do? Build a fire?"

"I suppose." Enlar had replied with a sigh. Travelling was the easiest thing in the world in a videogame: you just moved around the world map, exploring things quickly, maybe with a soothing music in the background.

Reality, she had immediately discovered, was very different.

It really took days to cross those distances that during the game where only a matter of few steps. During the game, nobody asked you to build a fire, to always keep an eye open during the night, to sleep on the hard soil. In certain games all you had to do was use a tent, a cottage or whatever, or simply answer the everlasting question:

_Rest? Yes_. The inevitable lullaby-like jingle would be heard, and then time would leap forward so that the second after you where already up, fresh and ready for another adventure.

_Sure, just as easy¸_ Enlar thought as she watched the flames burning slowly in front of her. Even lighting a few pieces of wood had been something arduous, she ironically considered while swallowing another piece of dried meat.

Watching Matthew, she found herself wondering whether he was feeling the same as her. Would he come to understand that venturing yourself into unknown territory was not that funny? Enlar didn't know: his expression was unreadable, as he too kept staring at the flames.

She grimaced at the mere thought of what he had told her hours before: she had known it even before he had voiced how he felt, but still it had hurt her to be treated like that. Especially after having saved him.

She waved the thought away: she couldn't care less. Maybe being with Rose had changed even her way of dealing with others.

After some more time, Enlar quietly lay down without saying a word, giving her back to the fire. Soon after she heard Matthew do the same and she closed her eyes, but try as she may, she couldn't sleep. All around her, the forest was full of sounds. Even her room in the Darkness Dragoon's tower, though barely furnished and nothing more than a ruin, was far more comfortable than that place. Every time she felt sleep approaching, she forced herself to stay awake: maybe something could approach them, and kill them while they innocently slept.

_Yeah, maybe, and maybe you're just being dumb._

Enlar sighed: she couldn't spend the whole night like that, she had to sleep; otherwise, the following day she would be so weary to curse every mile ahead of her.

Slowly, she relaxed and felt her breath beginning to slow down. Not long after, she totally abandoned herself to unconsciousness.

* * *

Matthew awakened slowly, finding himself staring into the eyes of a small squirrel. The animal was sitting just a few inches from his nose, intently watching him while caressing its long, furry tail. As soon as Matthew blinked, however, the squirrel vanished in a flash, climbing a huge tree with ease.

Matthew yawned soundly, wincing at the pain in his back: that damned soil was hard.

He suddenly recollected where he was and looked around, realizing that it was merely dawn. A couple steps in front of him stood snotty brat, already up and about and ready to go on with their thrilling journey.

_Naturally, always the best one waking up earlier,_ he ironically thought while he stood up. He gathered his belongings and joined her, smiling mockingly: "Did I keep you?"

She shot him a glare, raising an eyebrow: "We'd better be off, there's still a lot of ground to cover."

"Oh, of course, as the leader says." He went on making fun of her. She, however, didn't bother replying and started walking down the forest path they had been following the day before.

Matthew went after her, amused by her reactions. The previous day had been terribly boring with that silence between them. Now, however, he had found out that teasing snotty brat was immensely funnier than silently despising her.

They walked at a moderate pace, carefully scrutinizing the area for possible encounters. Matthew had learned that being careless, just like the day before, could only lead to trouble.

Nevertheless, he glanced at his companion and laughed: "Are we keeping an eye on the situation, leader? I'm asking you, because you're the only one that can save me in case of trouble."

Just like before, snotty brat didn't even look at him. Matthew, both peeved and amused, hastened his steps and placed himself in front of her, blocking her way.

"Hey , snotty brat! Why don't you answer? Cat got your tongue?"

She froze, looking slightly taken aback: "How… did you call me?"

"Why," he replied mockingly: "Isn't that your name?"

She eyed him with exasperation, then rudely shoved him out of her way: "Well then, it must be terrible to lose against a snotty brat like me."

With that said, she resumed walking. Matthew glared at her back, feeling rage mount up all over again. Why did she have to remind him of that fight?

Muttering, he followed her. She had immediately ruined the only funny thing he had come up with, and now there was that silence again. Sighing, Matthew resigned to another dull day of journey.

While they walked, he had lots of time to think. Although travelling, as he now had come to understand, had its share of difficulties, it was still better than being confined in Vellweb. He still didn't regret his tower, his bed, his _training_. As long as he was free to wander in that seemingly untouched nature, everything would be fine. Even though he would hardly have admitted it, that was what he liked the most in Endiness. Nowadays, in his world, it was nearly impossible to find such places if one lived near a big city. Those in the countryside were luckier, but still. Endiness's air, completely free of any kind of pollution, was something every modern citizen would have paid for.

Glancing at snotty brat, he wondered if she felt the same.

_Hell if I'm going to ask her, _he immediately thought.

Shaking his head, he went on.

* * *

They walked for another day and half. Enlar quickly got accustomed to the forest's sounds, managing to sleep calmly but still retaining that grade of consciousness which would have told her if danger was near.

After that first, mocking approach, Matthew hadn't said much. He was always lost in thought, his eyes distant. Enlar, after some time, came to identify him as a kind of unstable person. His mood would change all of a sudden, from deeply angry to cheerful and annoying. The only thing that remained unchanged was his dislike for her.

Now Enlar didn't mind much his glares or witty remarks. She had simply told herself to ignore him, and that seemed to work.

As for her, she just kept walking straight ahead. She felt that forest would soon come to an end, opening itself in the endless sands of the Death Frontier. She could already tell that the climate was changing: from time to time she had to wipe her forehead, whishing for a cold shower.

They were nearing their goal with every step they took.

And then, near the end of the fourth day of travel, the trees around them started to get thinner. The lusty green abruptly faded, leaving place to a yellow, half dead grass. The ground beneath them became more and more fragile, until the brown earth disappeared completely.

A fierce, scorching wind welcomed them as they set foot on the boiling sand; the sun, burning high in the sky, nearly blinded them with its light.

They blinked, trying to shield their eyes from the huge amounts of sand the wind kept thrusting on their faces.

What they saw was a pure plain of white. White everywhere, as far as the eye could see.

As they watched, a huge worm jumped out of the sand in the distance, chilling them with its inhuman screech.

They had reached the Death Frontier.


	12. Chapter 11

Hey everyone! I would like to thank Stars under the sky and RSSM for their constant feedback. You can't even imagine how that helps me to go on with the story...And also, thanks for reading this in spite og the countless mistakes ^_^

**Chapter 11**

After a first, discomforting silence, interrupted only by the howling wind, Matthew started coughing. When the fit subsided, he sighed: "What a wonderful place! Ideal for a vacation."

"And it only gets worse." Commented Enlar advancing a few steps. Walking would be harder from that moment: her boots sunk in the scorching sand, and moreover her vision was drastically reduced due to that wind.

Matthew approached her, carefully protecting his eyes: "So, where exactly is this Divine Tree? Or what remains of it, at least."

Enlar shrugged, trying to look at the horizon: it was no use, ten or so feet where as far as she could see.

"I really can't say, Matthew."

He raised his eyebrows, seeming surprised: "What? It can't be, snotty brat! I mean, you're the one who beat the game!"

She sighed, turning away from him: "That doesn't mean I know _everything_. Anyway, we'll think about it tomorrow. It's late, and besides that wind would make advancing ever more difficult."

"Do you say so?" Matthew replied boldly: "Well then, the leader can rest. I want to explore this place a little."

Enlar quickly whirled to face him, sending him an icy glare: "Alone? I don't think so."

He merely shrugged, as if uninterested: "I wasn't asking for permission."

"You don't understand, this place is dangerous!" Enlar replied angrily.

"Remember what I told you, my life is none of your business." He retorted while walking away, unsheathing his broadsword.

_Why, why does he have to behave like a spoiled child?_ She thought, irritated.

He wanted to risk his life so stupidly? Fine, she wouldn't raise a hand to stop him.

Shaking her head, Enlar sat behind a nearby rock, barely big enough to shield her from the wind. She leaned her head against its surface, closing her eyes and trying to regain her coolness. It wasn't an easy task, considering the turmoil that reigned al around her.

In that moment, more than ever, she wished she had some music. Sometimes music was the only thing she really missed from her world, the only thing for which she would gladly go back. Music always had the power to change her mood: it made her feel immensely better, carrying away her sadness or nervousness. How she longed for her piano in that vast, endless desert! She would caress the keys as she usually did, and then she would start playing. And there, on that harsh soil, there would no longer be a girl with a piano. They would merge into a single being, something entirely made of harmony where nothing else could exist. Only you and the music you played, those notes which flowed freely from your heart like gushing water from a fountain.

Without realizing it, entirely immersed in her own imagination, Enlar dozed.

* * *

Without really seeing anything in that constant wind, Matthew went on carelessly. He wasn't worried: somehow he would have managed to get back. In that precise moment all he wanted was to get away from snotty brat, from any form of human life, from _everything_.

He walked with some difficulties, often sinking in the sand with his heavy boots. Since he actually couldn't see where he was going, he at least tried to move in a straight line. That way, going back would be easier.

From time to time he kept hearing the monsters' shrieks, but not even one of them attacked him. Matthew found it odd, but couldn't complain. Soon, he even stopped caring for what he heard: he just walked and thought, thought hard.

There was something harassing him ever since he had set foot in that desert. Something from the past, hard to recall. Something he didn't want to remember, perhaps. Yet, even thought he struggled to free himself from that uneasiness, the feeling still remained.

_Maybe that's why I hate Enlar so. She reminds me of my previous life, in the other world. In all of this, on the whole damn continent, she's the only one able to bring back such memories. And I have to stay with her, _he thought bitterly. Perhaps it was just that: he didn't want to live again his past, now that he had found a way out of his miserable life.

The sound of his own panting caught his attention. Stopping suddenly, Matthew found that he was drenched with his own sweat. All of a sudden, it became too hot for him to bear. He shook his head, trying to inhale deeply, but to no avail. Huge, dark wings started to appear in front of him, and he knew he was going to faint.

_Hot, burning. Just like that day._

He fell on his knees, overwhelmed by his feelings. The pain which arose in his head was so great that he screamed in agony, unheard in that sandstorm.

He shut his eyes tightly, forcefully willing those awful memories away. For a terrible instant the heat within him kept raising, and he really feared he would have exploded.

Then, just as it had come, it subsided.

Matthew found himself staring at his clenched hands, buried deep in the sand. He was still out of breath, but somehow he knew the worst had passed. After some moments of complete stillness, he managed to get to his feet. The light around him was already feeble, almost dusky; the wind was beginning to fade.

He frowned, puzzled: how much time had he spent in that daze? He should go back soon, his explorations had been enough for that day.

As he glanced ahead of him, however, he saw something that persuaded him to stay some more.

Just a few steps away was an oasis. Fresh and still water seemed to call him, from under that heavenly spot filled with green plants.

_Is it a mirage? _Matthew wondered. He had never been in a desert before, but knew things like that could happen. Especially if you really desired to refresh yourself after having experienced a dreadful heat in your body, just like he had.

After some seconds of pondering, he simply walked towards what he had just discovered. It was worth the try, at least.

As soon as Matthew approached the oasis, however, he immediately understood that it was no illusion. He knelt beside the pool, fully immersing his hands in the cool water. He rinsed his face and drank gladly, relishing the fresh taste down his throat.

With a sigh he sat. Now he felt immensely better, and what had just happened seemed only a mere, distant nightmare. He felt he could even manage to go back and have dinner with snotty brat, as usual.

_She probably misses me already,_ he mused ironically.

Matthew stood, replenished his waterbags and started to walk away. Yet, before he could take much more than a couple steps forward, he stopped again. He could see something shining quietly in a nearby dune, half buried by the sand. Curious, he approached the object and picked it up, polishing it with his fingers.

It had probably been there for a long time, and only the recent wind had brought it to the surface. It was a small shard of an indescribable material, almost transparent, and of a glowing aquamarine color. As Matthew held it in his hand, he thought he felt a wave of power flowing through it. The feeling, however, immediately passed and he simply thought he had fancied it all. Still, the shard was undeniably beautiful: he glanced at it for a while longer, then stored it in one of his pockets.

It was then, all of a sudden, that he realized he was no longer alone.

His reflexes saved him: he abruptly crouched, just in time to avoid a giant dragonfly's ferocious attack. His hands were immediately on his broadsword, but he had been caught offhand: the monster was on him immediately, without giving him time to reply properly. Matthew dodged again, swinging his weapon, but only managed to hit the dragonfly outwardly. Then, the monster retreated and Matthew had time to gain his battle stance.

He released the air he had been keeping in his lungs: he had once again been careless, but now the situation had improved. He would kill that monster and go back, to snotty brat and to his mission.

As he looked around him, however, he felt his confidence shatter in a million pieces.

The dragonfly hadn't come alone.

He was surrounded.

_Shit,_ he thought feverishly, looking from one monster to the other. There was one of those huge sandworms he had heard shrieking before, the giant dragonfly and also an oversized scorpion, its tail lifted threateningly towards him. Would he be able to kill them all before they tore him apart?

The monsters didn't give him time to ponder on the matter. They suddenly attacked him, together, lifting huge amounts of sand in the process.

Matthew raised his broadsword, trying his best to defend himself. He hit the dragonfly again, this time nearly cutting it in two, and the monster fell to the ground. Immediately after, Matthew evaded a killing slash from the scorpion's tail by moving sideways.

Unfortunately, that move made him a far too easy target for the sandworm. The creature dived towards him, and at the last moment spat a ball of sand on his face.

Matthew, temporarily blinded, desperately tried to block the incoming hit. When the monster hit him on the chest like a truck he knew he had failed.

He tumbled away, feeling an enormous pain with every single breath he took.

"Damned… monsters…" He muttered, coughing and shaking his head. He felt another hit coming and rolled to his right, just a mere second before the scorpion's tail struck him. It remained bound in the sand, and the monster immediately started struggling to free it. Matthew saw his occasion and didn't waste it: with a mighty blow, he hit the scorpion in its midsection. The creature let out an inhuman squeal and died soon after.

Panting heavily, Matthew saw the sandworm eying him with rabid anger. It was too big and he was too tired: he could never have defeated it in those conditions. Vehemently looking around, Matthew identified something that could have helped him during the fight: a few feet away from him stood a huge desert plant, big enough to be used as a shield.

Slowly, his eyes never leaving the sandworm, he started to approach it. Step by step, he felt his hope raise: he would kill that damned monster and go back, bold as ever, with only that painful ache in his chest to remind him of his solo adventure in the desert.

Meanwhile, the sandworm merely watched him. Matthew found its stillness odd, but he was too busy in the attempt of reaching the plant to really care. Now he was near, just a couple more steps and he would be there.

For a moment he fancied he saw the monster _smirk._ But that was impossible, was it?

No, the creature was actually leering. Almost making fun of him, it seemed.

_What are you smirking at, you bastard?_ Matthew confusedly thought. The monster's expression disturbed him, along with its quietness.

Then, all of a sudden, he noticed there was something wrong.

He frowned as he heard squishing sounds from behind him, as if tentacles were crawling in the sand.

As he turned, almost in slow motion, he realized what a fool he had been. What he saw was no plant at all: instead, behind him stood a kind of giant mutant, its tentacles eager to catch the new prey.

Matthew tried to run away, but it was already too late. The creature firmly gripped him by the legs and started pulling him towards its blood-red mouth. Another tentacle took hold of his hands and unarmed him, throwing his broadsword away.

"No!" Matthew screamed as he felt the hilt disappearing from his fingers. The monster pulled harder and he fell, hitting his already damaged chest. He desperately tried to grab something to hold onto, but the creature was too quick.

As panic finally took over his mind, Matthew saw the sandworm make its move.

* * *

Enlar opened her eyes widely, springing on her feet. She looked around her in a state of confusion and anxiety, not really aware of why she felt like that.

The day had already faded: there was no light around her. It wasn't full dark yet, but even so the desert was clad in a gloomy atmosphere.

_I've fallen asleep,_ the girl thought angrily. She hadn't been out for long, maybe an hour or so, but still it was something she couldn't forgive herself for.

Still checking the area where she stood, sword in hand, she realized why she had been nervous in the first place.

Matthew still hadn't come back.

"Damn!" She exclaimed, trying to recall the exact direction he had taken upon leaving. She thought he had gone south, but she couldn't be certain of it. Nevertheless, Enlar threw away all of her doubts and headed that way, nearly running.

What if something had happened to him? If they had both been sent to Endiness, probably they would be both required for their mission. He couldn't possibly die, it would be a disaster.

Enlar kept walking quickly, silently cursing Matthew for his stupid ideas. He couldn't have gone too far, she thought as she scanned the sand around her in search of a hint of his passage.

The sand, however, appeared untouched and as brilliant as ever. Probably the wind had erased every single footstep.

Now that she noticed it, the wind had completely died down.

_At least that problem is fixed, _she considered nervously.

She went on. Step after step, the distance from the southern end of the Evergreen increased and still Matthew was nowhere to be seen.

Soon the Death Frontier appeared to her as an endless expanse of sands so white that it hurt her eyes just to look at them. Everything was identical, in every direction, under that same obsidian sky.

All of a sudden, that white reminded Enlar of padded cells. She shivered at the mere thought of it, and she closed her eyes to banish that image. To think about something like that would probably bring back other memories, unchain something she had buried deep within her mind.

Clearly not something she wanted, with other matters to take care of.

Enlar gazed at the horizon for the hundredth time, not really expecting to see anything. Instead, this time the monotony of the landscape was broken by the silhouette of something in the distance.

She eyed that spot carefully, trying to identify what lay beneath those shadows.

An oasis, perhaps? She remembered the desert being provided with at least two of them, in the game. As she neared the spot, she found out she had been right.

Before reaching it completely, though, Enlar froze in place.

Somewhere near she could definitely hear someone fighting. Without the slightest faltering, she started running towards the sounds.

Not long after, she heard an agonizing cry coming from the darkness ahead of her and doubled her speed. He was there, and he was in danger. Serious danger, perhaps.

After a few more steps, she came to a sudden stop. Before her stood a huge sandworm, exactly like the ones which jumped right in your face during the game. Behind him, a gicantic mutant desert plant swung furiously its tentacles. Tied to these, lying on the ground, was Matthew.

The plant was quickly dragging him towards its mouth and he did absolutely nothing to free himself. He looked unarmed, his weapon nowhere to be seen, and seemed almost unconscious.

No one had noticed her, apparently.

Without wasting time, she jumped into action. With a fiery blow, she sliced the sandworm's back. It shrieked in pain, and immediately turned to face her.

It was a though monster, one which couldn't be handled with a single blow. It threw himself against her, but Enlar quickly dodged and hit him again, this time between the small eyes. At once she slashed again, piercing the creature's abdomen and impaling it with her rapier.

As soon as Enlar felt the monster stiffen, she withdrew her sword. She whirled to face the mutant plant, which now had Matthew dangerously close.

"Matthew!" She shouted, trying to get his attention. He seemed to hear her, for he raised his head a little and searched for her with his eyes. In them, Enlar saw for the first time something akin to fear. Maybe he had really thought to be done for.

She spotted his broadsword nearby and kicked hit towards him, so that he could grab it. He seemed to get the hint and managed to grip the hilt.

It was then that Enlar decided to strike. It was dangerous: in a mere instant she could end up in the very same situation of her companion. Avoiding the tentacles, she thrust her rapier forward and hit exactly the creature's open mouth.

Matthew, in the meanwhile, managed to cut off one of the tentacles which were binding him. The monster struggled, furious, but didn't let go: on the contrary, it even strengthened its grip on Matthew's left leg.

Enlar struck again and again, trying to sever the tentacle, but the creature was incredibly resistant and quick. After another try, Enlar decided it had been enough. She delivered an upward blow which almost tore the monster in half.

It relaxed suddenly, exhaling its final breath. Matthew let out a loud sigh as Enlar retrieved once again her sword from the creature's body.

"Oh, God." He whispered, barely audible: "I thought that son of a bitch would k-"

He didn't get to finish the sentence.

Abruptly, before one of them could even realize it, the monster came to life again. In a last, powerful spasm, he thrust the tentacle which still held Matthew up in the air and released him. After that, it simply froze on the sand and died for real.

Wide-eyed, Enlar could only watch as Matthew flew in the sky with a scream.

He soon began to fall at a terrific speed.

_The impact's gonna kill him!_ She thought desperately, unable to do anything besides running towards him.

Matthew collided with the ground with a loud thump and another cry. As soon as he landed, however, he started disappearing.

Enlar abruptly stopped, looking at what stood before her. She hadn't noticed it before, due to the dark, but right in front of her a huge sand whirlpool was engulfing everything that came on its range. Included Matthew.

He disappeared in a matter of seconds, and soon Enlar remained alone.

Silence fell again on the Death Frontier.

With a sigh, strengthening her grip on her rapier, Enlar shook her head.

"Damn you, Matthew."

Then, she jumped after him, disappearing in a flash.


	13. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

Although being aware of where she would have ended up, Enlar didn't manage to break her fall. She painfully tumbled on her back amid a huge pile of sand which constantly fell from the whirlpool's hole.

Next to her, unconscious, was Matthew.

She looked at him for a moment, trying to understand if he was hurt badly. He seemed to breath constantly and without much effort, so she assumed that he wasn't.

Shaking him by his shoulder, she called him: "Matthew."

He winced, trying to turn away from her.

_No, dear. You have to wake up. _Enlar considered as she shook him once more, not so gently this time.

"Matthew!"

"Uhmm… leave me… alone…" Matthew muttered, then opened his eyes with a seemingly titanic effort. He looked blankly at her for a second, then remembered everything and sighed deeply.

"Stupid, goddamned monster. Where the heck are we?" He asked, after being quiet for a little.

"In one of the various caves beneath the Death Frontier. Whoever falls in those whirlpools winds up here." Was her quiet reply.

Matthew threw an annoyed look at the hole above his head, almost as if to blame it, then slowly got to his feet. Grimacing, he touched carefully his chest: "Wonderful. Is there also a way out?"

Enlar shrugged: "There should be."

"Well then, let's find it." Matthew replied and started walking away. When he noticed that Enlar still hadn't moved, though, he stopped.

"If you are expecting gratitude for what you did, then think again. I didn't ask you to save me." He told her gravely, without even facing her. "My life-"

"Oh, don't worry." Enlar remarked: "I know, your life is none of my business, as I guess you've already told me countless times. But we're in this together, for better or worse, and I cannot allow you to die. The mission would be severely wrecked."

Matthew stood still for a moment, then laughed: "Well, if it's for the mission's sake…"

A sound ahead of them abruptly silenced their discussion. After a moment, Enlar joined Matthew shaking her head: "Let's go. It's not safe here."

He didn't reply, for once avoiding to mock her.

They left the spot of light granted by the whirlpool's opening and adventured into the darkness beyond, their weapons ready.

Enlar advanced carefully, not liking that total darkness around her. The problem wasn't being unable to see anything; what troubled her was that, in the game, those caves hadn't been in the least dark. She remembered lots of sunbeams coming from the surface, giving that place a feeble but constant light.

_I should stop referring to the game for every damned thing,_ she suddenly thought.

Yes, that would be a wise thing to do. She was living a reality, weird as it may be. If what she saw and what she remembered didn't match, it obviously meant that the game and that reality weren't totally identical. From now on, she would have to rely mostly on what she experienced by herself.

They proceeded at an exasperating pace, unable to walk faster due to the lack of sight. Often they would bump into rock protrusions, which seemed to multiply as they penetrated into the desert's depths.

"Are you _sure _there is an exit?" Matthew asked her again after a long time.

Enlar tried to calculate the exact time they had spent walking. It was no use: in that dark she had lost every single reference to the outer world and couldn't have said if they had went on for an hour or much more than that.

Yet, she didn't want Matthew to start complaining: "We'll reach it soon. Just keep walking."

Again, Matthew's only reply was silence.

They kept advancing, but Enlar was no longer certain of what she had said. That nothingness in which they moved was so oppressing that she felt the stone walls would close around them and put an end to their miserable quest without delay.

Just when she was about to voice her distress, however, a feeble ray appeared in the distance.

She and Matthew exchanged a glance, then immediately hastened their steps. As they neared that light, they noticed it belonged to the moon.

_So it's still nighttime,_ Enlar registered as her eyes adjusted to the new brightness. As her sight returned, she found herself staring with wonder at her surroundings.

Immense dead roots towered around the area, curving and spiraling into the looming darkness in dangerous-looking spikes. They went on for what looked like forever, some of them protruding out of the cave and creating huge holes from which the Moon that Never Sets emanated its glow.

Enthralled, Enlar advanced and touched lightly a root's rough surface. She immediately felt the energy it had once retained under her fingertips, and shivered.

The Divine Tree, something that had appeared only to become the Virage Embryo's cradle.

She found it odd that it still lay there, in ruins, whereas the moon had once more gained its place in the heavens. Sure, it was no longer the body of the 108th fruit, but still it gave her the creeps to think of that. How another moon could have appeared in the sky after the explosion was something behind her.

_Maybe Soa's will,_ she mused.

Next to her, Matthew appeared to be almost as spellbound as she was. After all, he had been told everything. Noticing that she was glancing at him, he collected himself: "Looks like we are the luckiest adventurers in the whole world, reaching our goal without even searching for it!

Enlar raised an eyebrow, perplexed: "I would wait before considering myself lucky. We still have to find the dragoon spirits."

Matthew sighed audibly, taking a few steps in the moonlight: "Man, you're so boring. Fine, let's look for them."

Enlar shook her head, unseen. He was definitely better, his old self again.

* * *

The ruins of the Divine Tree were much larger than they had at first thought. The traces of the explosion were still there, in the burned soil and blackened roots. It was in the midst of all this that Enlar and Matthew started their search, aided only by the moon's faint glow.

It wasn't an easy task: they were looking for two small stones lost among thousands of other things. Matthew, in the beginning bold and sure of himself, came to understand that after two hours of uneventful research.

He kept looking in every corner, behind every single rock or root he saw, and still all he found were yet more stones. Normal stones, not the kind he was looking for.

Throwing away with frustration another plain pebble, he shook his head. That wasn't the right way to look for the spirits. There had to be a more coherent method, one that didn't include blindly checking every damned spot of that area.

Suddenly, he remembered something snotty brat had said while narrating the game's story. Something about Dart, and how he had acquired his dragoon spirit in the first place.

Snotty brat had said he had found it amid the ruins of Neet, his hometown, which had been turned to ashes by the black monster.

_Now,_ Matthew mused, _how the hell could a kid find something like that by mere chance? A stone that had belonged to his father and that would have become his major source of power? _

Impossible, he thought. Perhaps Dart had somehow been called by the dragoon spirit. Maybe the small stone had identified that boy as its next owner and had led his way.

Couldn't the same happen to him? Always admitting he was the chosen one.

Matthew looked around him and threw snotty brat a glance. She looked as clueless as he was, engrossed in her own search in a nearby spot.

_It's gonna take days,_ he painfully thought as he stood up from his crouched position.

He had to try something, so that at least that time he would actually be the one to save the day.

_Perhaps I should try to focus, to feel its power._

That idea seemed good enough and he decided to give it a try. He momentarily closed his eyes, doing his best to visualize that stone he had never seen. He thought of red, and he thought of fire, without even realizing to be dangerously near those unpleasant memories of his. When his mind seemed to light with flames, however, Matthew abruptly opened his eyes and shook his head.

It was too much. It seemed to work, but the price he had to pay was simply unbearable. To go through all that fire again was something he couldn't bring himself to do.

_Ah, and you're supposed to become the Red-Eyed dragoon? The one who harnesses fire? _

That voice within him startled him badly. He silenced it at once, but those words kept lurking in his mind.

It was true. How could he become such a warrior if he hated fire? If he was _afraid_ of fire- because in the end that's what it came to-?

Matthew shook his head, angry with himself. He had no time for such silly thing. He didn't forcefully have to remember: he just had to face that damned fire and see where the spirit was.

Without further hesitating, he closed his eyes and attempted again.

When the flames came, Matthew tried to keep calm and pushed his mind even further. That fire seemed a gigantic barrier, a wall built to prevent him from discovering what he sought. For a another moment he stood perfectly still, unable to go on, then all of a sudden threw himself within those flames.

Matthew felt them burning, trying to trap him in a deadly embrace, and thought for a split second that he would have died there, even before the real mission's start.

Then, as in a mirage, the flames slowly slipped down his body and opened in front of him, revealing a path.

Matthew started walking without the slightest faltering.

* * *

Enlar wiped her forehead swiftly as she crawled under yet another root.

_Not even Stardust was this hard to find, _she mused while a small amount of sand got into her eyes. She blinked furiously, unable to see, then her vision came again.

No dragoon stones there. Another failure.

Enlar tiredly got out of there again and brushed her long, brown hair with her fingers. Inhaling deeply the night breeze, she looked around her without much hope. Finding the dragoon spirits was much more difficult than she had thought at first. In the beginning she had looked for a spot similar to the one that appeared right at the end of the game, in which Rose and Zieg's dragoon stones lay together by gushing water. A water so blue, she remembered, that it almost seemed to come out of the screen every time she looked at it.

Unfortunately, there didn't seem to be such a place there. The only things that she saw where sand, stones, and roots. Roots everywhere, as far as she could see.

With a sigh, she searched Matthew with her eyes. Apparently he wasn't having much luck, either.

However, as she turned to the spot where he had been standing just a few moments before, she noticed that he was walking away.

"Hey, where are you going?" Enlar asked, but no answer came.

Frowning, she took a few steps in his direction as if to stop him. It was then that she noticed there was something odd about him. The way he walked was unnatural, almost as if he were an automaton. Even his head was weirdly straight and still, the eyes fixed on some spot in the distance.

As Enlar neared, she managed to look into those eyes and what she saw there gave her the chills.

They were blank, totally void. Almost as the eyes of a catatonic person, someone lost in his own world till the end of time. She had seen her own share of those persons, so she knew well the type.

He kept walking, slowly, but surely.

_Is he in a kind of trance?_ She wondered, uncertain of what to do next. He seemed to know where he was going, for he advanced amidst those ruins with dead certainty.

In the end, Enlar resolved to follow him.

She tried to be as quiet as possible, in order not to distract him, but Matthew simply went on without giving any hint of being aware of her presence.

They didn't walk for long. After maybe ten minutes Matthew suddenly stopped at the edge of a small clearing, created by an opening between the roots. The area was bathed in moonlight, thus resembling an ephemeral, out-of-time place.

Enlar couldn't see well because Matthew was in her way, but somehow her heart already knew what lay there.

Down her spine, she could feel small chills in response to the unimaginable amount of power before her. She felt it resonate with her very soul and wondered how something so clear could have neglected to attract her attention.

Matthew suddenly lowered his shoulders and let out a deep breath, as if he had been underwater for a long period and was coming to surface just in that moment.

He looked down silently for endless seconds, then turned to face her and stepped aside.

For the time being Enlar didn't return the glance. All she could see, the only thing her eyes could focus onto, were the two tiny stones which lay side by side, slightly buried in the sand. Their smooth surfaces shimmered quietly in that eerie light, rendering their colors even more difficult to explain. One was a brilliant red, the other a deep, dark shade of blue which almost became black in the center. With a small vertical line in their core they both looked like fiery eyes. Dragon's eyes, to be precise.

For a moment Enlar's mind wavered in front of such power. The way to harness darkness was truly at hand's reach: all she had to do was grab the dragoon stone and unleash its destructive energy.

_Not so easy,_ she reminded herself as she quickly regained her control. Rose had told her countless times that, of all the dragoons, the bearer of darkness's power had to be the most cautious. Every dragoon spirit fed itself on human fury and rage, sometimes leading to madness; the darkness one, however, could demand an even higher price if used carelessly. It could steal your very soul, drowning it into that black oblivion which gave you power.

Darkness was no joke, as Rose had warned her from the very beginning. There was only a plank between sanity and perdition while harnessing it.

Such musings went through Enlar's mind in a mere second. Sensing that Matthew was still looking at her, she turned to face him. He was grinning broadly, seeming enormously contented.

"See?" He whispered: "Do you see, snotty brat? I've found them!"

Enlar raised her eyebrows in surprise: it was true, he had somehow managed to discover the dragoon stones' location. But how?

"You let the spirit guide you!" She then exclaimed as the answer suddenly came to her: "You were in a trance, and the spirit led you here."

Even before Matthew could utter a reply, she saw in his eyes that it was the truth. Glancing again at the two small stones, Enlar shook her head: "How did you come up with something so clever?"

Matthew glared at her; nevertheless, his happiness was too big to be shaken by her remarks.

"You know, you're not the only one capable of using the brain here." He retorted.

Enlar shrugged, once more returning her glance to the spirits: "You just got lucky, that's all."

Matthew was about to reply again, when a sharp sound echoed in that place. It was similar to the one they had heard before beginning their walk in the dark; this time, however, it was definitely nearer.

Looking around her, Enlar unsheathed her rapier; soon after Matthew did the same.

Now they could feel the incoming danger clearly. Enlar kept constantly scanning the dark areas around them, but she couldn't see anything. What she felt was an enormous power, something that couldn't be compared to those of normal monsters. When she felt her flesh creep and her hand tremble, she abruptly strengthened her grip on her sword's hilt.

_Calm down, don't lose you nerve, _ she told herself harshly.

Suddenly, all around them, the earth began shaking vigorously. Caught offhand, they both lost their balance and fell into the sand. Enlar tried to get to her feet, but it was almost impossible: the small clearing was already disappearing, buried by the roots which kept tumbling and rolling at a crazy speed.

_The dragoon spirits!_ She thought desperately as she saw them disappear under the sand. She tried to reach for them, to crawl towards them, but suddenly a loud thump made her freeze in place.

The sound came again, this time clearly from her right.

Enlar slowly turned her head towards that point and saw that a gigantic root was blocking the way of _something_. That something was furiously smashing it to bits with its powerful hits, meaning to go though and get them.

It would be there in a matter of seconds.

Enlar suddenly started moving again. She had to get the dragoon spirits before that thing came, or it would be the end. The end for them, because they would horribly die fighting against whatever was trying to break through. She was certain of that.

The thumps continued, now louder than ever.

For a moment she thought she heard Matthew calling for her, or maybe swearing, but she willed it away. She was nearing the spot where she had last seen the stones, just before they had disappeared. Just another few inches and she would find them, and-

A huge explosion sent her flying and she hit the stone wall in front of her with a thud. Enlar fell to the ground, desperately struggling to breathe. Her vision was blurry, her head transfixed by a piercing pain.

The first thing she felt was an horrid smell, the smell of dead animals. Then, a high-pitched shriek filled her ears and hurt even more her already damaged head.

Panting heavily, she feverishly searched around her with her hand. She had lost her rapier upon falling, so she couldn't even have defended herself in that moment. She had to find it.

What her hand met, however, wasn't the smooth surface of the sword's hilt. Her fingers closed on a small cold stone, vibrating with power. As soon as Enlar touched it, she felt an almost living darkness flow through her body and understood that it was the right dragoon spirit. Her dragoon spirit.

As her eyes cleared, she finally saw what had followed them in those ruins just to end their life.

Before her, even more gigantic in that small place, stood a Virage.

Its head was white, with small green eyes in the front. Two long, white arms ending with claws protruded from its body; even its equally long legs were equipped with deadly talons. The same green of its eyes returned in its midsection, where it flashed threateningly.

Enlar found her sword and managed to stand. She could see Matthew behind the Virage, looking at it with astonishment.

The creature slowly turned its head towards her and growled again, furiously opening its arms and smashing a dozen roots in the process.

Enlar took a deep breath, then closed her eyes. She could feel her left hand burning: that power could no longer remain enclosed within the stone. It clearly demanded to be unleashed.

_Fine, I'll grant your wish, _she thought, and set free that raging energy.

She immediately felt her blood burning in her veins as a huge, dark globe enveloped her. She widened her eyes, startled by the sudden pain that went through her body as if she were being electrocuted.

But it was like being blind: no light came to her in that void. It was only her and that darkness, menacing to tear her limbs apart. It hurt so much that Enlar tried to scream, but in vain.

Then, somehow, she forced that power under her control. Darkness began to fade as she slowly regained her sight. The pain subsided.

There was no soil beneath her feet. She was floating in midair, under the moonlight.

A pair of beautiful, black wings veined with an almost transparent green beat constantly on her back. Enlar looked down at her, staring with admiration at her gorgeous yet sturdy armor. It was nearly black, except for the long shoulder holsters and an oval gem on her chest which were of a deep crimson. The color of blood.

Yet, what amazed her the most wasn't how she looked. It was what she felt within her, the very power that had almost vanquished her mere seconds before.

Enlar held her rapier before her, noticing that even her weapon had changed, and eyed the Virage with determination.

As the creature growled once again, this time with even more wrath, she readied herself for the first attack.


	14. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

A shimmering light blinded Matthew, and all that remained around him was the dreadful scream of that creature.

He tried to stand, but his legs were trembling too much. The sudden arrival of that gigantic thing had caused him yet another collision with a nearby root, further damaging his already wounded chest. He found it hard to breathe, amidst all that chaos.

Again, the furious growl of the creature pierced his head.

_It's a Virage,_ he told himself, trying to remember what snotty brat had said about those monsters. He seemed to recall that they were some kind of weapon the winglies had used against the dragoons during the Dragon Campaign. Now, even after thousands of years, some of them could still be found in particular places where battles had been fought. Virages had terrific powers and a certain dislike for dragoons.

Also for soon-to-be dragoons, it appeared.

That Virage, just a mere second before, had been eying snotty brat with the intention of tearing her limbs apart.

Then, his oh-I-know-everything companion had disappeared into a globe of dark light and he had been blinded.

When his eyes began to focus images again, Matthew blinked repeatedly: probably just a couple seconds had passed, but still he felt like he had been unable to see for ages.

As soon as he raised his head towards where snotty brat had disappeared, he widened his eyes in astonishment. She had reappeared, but no longer looked like the small, insignificant young girl that had accompanied him during that first part of the journey. She was clad in a huge, dark armor, and from her back protruded two enormous wings. Floating in midair, her weapon in hand, she looked like a preternatural being. Suddenly, dark flames engulfed her and she readied her weapon.

Matthew stood still for another moment, then abruptly started moving along the stone wall on his left. Now that the Virage was occupied with her, he had a chance to find the other dragoon stone and use it.

He was clueless on how to do it, but still looking for it was already a start. His attention, however, was quickly diverted from his search as soon as snotty brat launched herself towards the creature. Matthew barely managed to follow her moves: she flew at godspeed, one with the darkness that surrounded her. She delivered a flurry of deadly blows, each one accompanied by those evil flames. The Virage tried to grab her with its clawed hands, but to no avail. Snotty brat ended the last attack descending on the creature and piercing it vertically; the hit was followed by another dark globe, this one far bigger than the previous, which enveloped the Virage and burned its flesh in a mere instant. In another flash of dark light, snotty brat was already back in her place.

Matthew returned to his search, amazed by what he had just seen. Were those the powers of a dragoon?

_If she's that good she won't have problems in handling that thing for a little more,_ he thought as he kept rummaging in the sand beneath him.

Where was the damned thing? He couldn't find it, no matter how hard he tried.

From behind him, the Virage shrieked and shot a gigantic beam from its head. Snotty brat avoided it, but as soon as she flew away the creature tried to mangle her with its claws.

"Matthew, find that stone quickly, for God's sake!" She screamed after having barely avoided the fatal hit.

"I'm trying," he muttered as he moved yet another fallen root. There was nothing beneath it.

He grunted, looking around himself anxiously. He still had to check the area on the right, where the Virage had stood mere seconds before. Now, in fact, it had moved to another section of the cave while chasing snotty brat.

Matthew hurried to that spot and searched hastily, throwing behind him every plain stone.

_C'mon, let it be here…_ he silently prayed as snotty brat screamed again. Maybe the Virage had hit her, and she was unable to fight and now that creature would come and slaughter him and-

In the middle of those frenzied thoughts, Matthew almost threw away the dragoon stone which now lay in his right hand. He looked at it, flabbergasted, unable to understand that he had found what he'd been looking for.

Then it came to him, all of a sudden, and he clenched his hand on the stone's cold surface. He didn't know how to use it, what to do to unleash its power; all he knew was that he _had_ to do something. He closed his eyes and collected himself, silently wishing for something to happen.

The flames came almost immediately, startling him. His hand started burning, and with that came unstoppable images of a better forgotten past.

His house burning. People screaming.

_She _was screaming.

Then confusion, sirens in the distance. A heavy rain above his face, drowning everything under its flow.

A hospital's morgue, cold and bleak and lonely.

What Matthew felt, this time, was no fear at all for that fire. Instead, he felt rage: rage towards himself, towards his stupid pride and arrogance. He let that power flow freely through his veins, whishing for an instant to be turned into ashes by those everlasting flames. That was what he deserved, to be killed by the very fire that had destroyed his life years ago.

Those flames, however, didn't burn him; they embraced him and forged his body into a new one, one so overflowing with power that he felt he would have blown up. Wings exploded from his back, a massive red armor encased his muscles as the flames dissipated around him.

Matthew opened his eyes, inhaling deeply the air around him. With his broadsword in hand, free from the soil's constraint, he realized he had never felt so alive in his whole life.

The Virage, in the meanwhile, had managed to corner snotty brat. It was visibly in pain, but still the girl's hits hadn't been enough to kill it.

_Now you'll see, _Matthew thought, then threw himself forward with a scream.

* * *

Enlar saw the red light coming from the Virage's huge body and silently rejoiced. Matthew had finally found the dragoon stone: now he would come and help her. She couldn't help being glad. The power she had obtained by transforming was enormous, but she lacked experience and wasn't fighting against an ordinary monster, either. Her energies were already running out, she knew she wouldn't last long in that fight.

Besides, that damned creature had managed to corner her. She had no space to fly away and dodging every assault was becoming harder and harder.

Enlar attempted another attack and landed a successful hit in the Virage's midsection. Her rapier cut deep, but still the creature didn't falter. Shrieking outrageously, it shook her away and almost sent her crashing against the nearby stone wall.

All of a sudden, she heard a scream and knew Matthew was there. He collided with the Virage with a tremendous impact, hitting its head with his flaming broadsword, then flying away just to hit again and again.

Enlar managed to catch a glimpse of him and held her breath. He looked totally different as a dragoon, completely surrounded by flames that didn't burn him. His shoulder-length brown hair was especially noticeable amidst all that red.

That moment of carelessness, however, cost her dearly. As soon as Matthew finished his assault, the Virage started shaking his head madly. As if in a frenzy, it propelled its arms in every direction, crashing everything it encountered.

Being trapped in a small place, Enlar had absolutely no way to avoid the attack. Had she noticed it before, she could even have attempted to sneak through the creature's legs; now, it was too late.

The Virage's claws sank deeply in her hip. Enlar gritted her teeth, trying her best not to scream, but the pain that took over her body was far too great to be dismissed. Blood started pouring out of the wound, quickly drenching her armor. Her sight wavered as she quickly descended towards the ground.

_No, you're not going to faint. You _can't _faint right now,_ she imperiously told herself, and somehow managed to break her fall.

The Virage, in the meantime, was still angrily shaking its body after the last attack. Matthew charged forward once again, unmercifully slashing the creature's head with his broadsword. After another assault, her threw her a glance and frowned deeply: "You're wounded."

Now panting heavily, doing her best to keep her dragoon from, Enlar shook her head: "I'm… fine." She muttered in response. Matthew moved as if to join her, but suddenly the Virage shot another beam, this one directed upwards. Maybe Matthew's attacks had blinded it, because it kept hitting incoherently in every direction, only guided by its everlasting fury.

_We have to get out of here,_ Enlar thought as her eyes examined the opening the Virage's beam had left above them. She also had to do something about that wound, but it was hard to think lucidly with that atrocious ache almost tearing her apart.

In the end her body chose in place of her mind. Enlar, using all her remaining strength, threw herself towards that opening, her wings beating wearily. As soon as she reached the surface and found herself above the sands of the Death Frontier again, she acted without reflecting. She closed her eyes and the sky around her darkened even more: even the stars disappeared under that cloak of indissoluble darkness. Flying even higher, she eyed the Virage for a split second, then threw her rapier with deadly precision. The sword stuck itself in the very middle of the creature's head, but then immediately started recoiling. Around the blade appeared something akin a small cone of light, which suddenly started sapping the creature's strength. Energy immediately began flowing out of the Virage, which couldn't do anything at all to stop the attack.

Then, as swiftly as it had struck, the rapier moved away and returned to its owner.

Enlar clutched it in midair: as soon as her fingers placed themselves on the hilt, she felt a wave of healing energy pervade her body. She raised the blade above her head, and that which the sword had drained from the Virage filled her veins with uncanny speed, almost as a strong drug. The weariness she had felt in her muscles only mere moments before was gone: so was the pain in her hip, and the certainty of being near unconsciousness.

Everything around her resumed its former aspect and Enlar realized she had just performed her first spell.

_Astral Drain_, her mind told her absently. How had she unleashed such dark powers? She hadn't done a thing, only guided by her body and her instincts. She doubted she would be able to do something like that again, at least for the time being. Turning slowly, she noticed Matthew was beside her. He looked rather astonished as his eyes went from her hip to her face.

"What… how did you do that?" He asked her, confused.

Enlar shrugged: "I really don't know, it just… happened." She couldn't have explained it better, not even to herself. Matthew was about to reply, but suddenly the Virage shrieked from beneath them and jumped out of what remained of the cave.

"That damn thing is still alive!" Matthew spat between gritted teeth.

"Let's finish it, and quickly." Enlar added with a sigh. Somehow, she felt her renewed energies would run out soon. They had to put an end to that creature's life.

Without another word, the two of them threw themselves towards the Virage and unchained a powerful series of attacks.

Fire and darkness joined in what might have looked like a deadly waltz around the creature's body. The two dragoons kept slashing and moving, moving and slashing until the Virage fell to the ground, deprived of every single bit of its vigor. Their combined efforts had dispatched it in no time.

Enlar lowered her rapier, staring at the now dead monster beneath their feet. How could the winglies have used hundreds of those things during the Dragon Campaign? How had the dragoons managed to face them all, when just one of them had took so much pain to be killed?

"Looks like the bitch has finally bit the dust." Matthew exclaimed with a wide grin.

Enlar smiled, then was suddenly enveloped by a feeble dark light. The second after, she no longer felt her wings.

She plunged towards the soil almost unaware of what was happening to her. She no longer cared: no energy whatsoever had been left in her body, she felt completely emptied.

The impact with the hard sand, however, never came. Strong, gentle hands interrupted her fall, giving back to her some grade of consciousness.

As Enlar lifted her gaze, she found herself staring into Matthew's concerned eyes.

"Hey, snotty brat, what the hell are you doing? Planning on killing yourself?" He said, but those words seemed distant to Enlar. She shook her head: "I…"

Matthew vanished from her sight, but she clearly felt that they were descending. Soon they would have landed and she could have rested freely. The pain in her hip was back, stronger than ever, but in that precise moment even that seemed far away.

Then, all of a sudden, she heard Matthew mutter something inaudible and they both fell to the ground. Immediately after they hit the sand, and as Enlar landed on her wounded side the pain exploded within her, tearing her away from her state of semi-awareness. Judging from the quick fall, they had been almost there when Matthew's powers had deserted him. He now lay next to her, rubbing at his chest and wincing at the same time.

"What a… great help…" She whispered. Matthew seemed to hear her and momentarily forgot about his chest to lean on her face: "This 'great help' at least spared your life. Are you ok?"

Enlar tried to answer, but no words came. Her breath was cut short by the pain, and finally her mind stopped trying to fight that unconsciousness which she so badly longed for.

* * *

"Hey!" Matthew exclaimed as Enlar's head fell back amidst the sand. He looked at her face with dismay: she was as pale as a corpse.

Glancing at her hip, his apprehension grew even more. She was totally drenched in her own blood, which kept flowing from the open wound ceaselessly.

"Oh, damn." Matthew muttered aloud as he tried to feel her pulse: it was getting weaker and weaker. What should he do?

_Think, for heaven's sake! She's dying right In front of your eyes!_

He started rummaging in a small bag snotty brat always carried with her and found some bandages. He had no idea how first aid worked, but stopping the blood loss seemed the only intelligent thing to do at the moment.

Working carefully, he tied the bandages all around her hip and fastened them tightly. The white cloth immediately became crimson red, almost as if mocking his efforts.

_It doesn't matter. I have to take her somewhere else, I have to get help._ He thought feverishly.

Help? In the middle of a desert?

Matthew angrily clenched his fists. He was clearly on his own, no one would have materialized out of nowhere to bring aid.

_I'll call an ambulance, _ he thought, and immediately after labeled himself as a jerk. It was no time for silly game references, although in another moment he would have laughed till the tears for a joke like that.

He gently took her in his arms, trying not to touch the wounded hip, and looked around. Dawn was near, and all he could see under that feeble light were ruins, roots and sand.

Not the most suitable place to heal a wounded. He would have to find a safe area quickly.

_Maybe I can return to the Evergreen. There, it's not so hot and we'll have the trees' shade._

Yes, he thought he could do that. After all, it was impossible to be all too distant from the end of the forest, which they had reached only hours before.

With a sigh, trying to ignore his aching chest and his total weariness, Matthew started walking.

He was so focused on his effort to reach the forest that he simply forgot to check the direction he was following. He simply assumed it to be the right one and went on strenuously, step after step.

Soon, his mind was left bare of everything. The only things that remained where snotty brat between his arms, her breath now so feeble, and his goal. Raising his feet had become a titanic task, but still he went on. He was sure, totally certain that the tall trees of the Evergreen would soon have appeared in front of him.

He surely didn't know that he was going in the opposite direction of the forest, penetrating more and more in the depths of the Death Frontier.

Then, suddenly, after an undefined span of time, Matthew stopped.

Looking around himself, he saw yet more sand. Sand on his left, on his right, behind him and in front of him. In despair, he looked down at snotty brat and for a second didn't perceive her breath. Her weight, although scant, became unbearable for his tired arms and he almost let her fall.

Panting heavily, he knelt in the scorching sand. He was trembling all over, and a strong nausea suddenly got hold of him.

_You can't, you have to do something, or-_

Matthew fell, bringing Enlar down with him. He could no longer go on: his body had deserted him. As blackness covered his eyes, he saw once more snotty brat's face near him.

_I couldn't help her. I'm not suited for helping people._

Then, only void.


	15. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

A warm, soft blanket on her body. A comfortable bed to rest her tired limbs. That's what Enlar felt as soon as she woke up, even before opening her eyes.

_Where am I? What happened?_

She didn't know. All she remembered was her fight with the Virage, in which she had been badly wounded. Then, she had lost her powers and had fallen towards the ground; never actually reaching it, though.

Matthew had saved her. Or, _tried_ to save her, since not long after having broken her fall he too had lost his energies and they had both plummeted in the soil. From that point, all that her mind allowed her to recall was darkness. Darkness and pain, an atrocious pain from her damaged hip.

Now, however, Enlar felt nothing at all save for a dull, distant ache. She tried to open her eyes and found no difficulty whatsoever.

What she saw before her took her breath away. She was lying in a huge bed, full of cushions and curtains on the sides. It was placed in the middle of a fancy room, but of a rather bizarre design. It was only after some seconds that she realized something like that couldn't have been built by humans. Even the materials used in the walls were weird: in them seemed to constantly flow some kind of energy, which gleamed undisturbed in the room's already lively light.

Confused, Enlar tried to rise to a sitting position but had to grit her teeth. As soon as she moved the wounded muscles, in fact, the pain returned with renewed power.

All of a sudden, while she was still waiting for the terrible ache to subside, a door on her left opened and a small woman came in hurriedly.

"Oh, no! You mustn't move, my dear! You'll open that wound all over again!" She cried with a high-pitched, almost musical voice.

Enlar stared at her with wide-eyed stupor, shocked by her sudden appearance. The woman didn't waste time and neared the bed, gently pushing her back and tucking in her blanket: "Now, that's better. You don't want to push too much that poor body of yours, do you?"

The girl could only keep looking at her, aghast. The woman looked not so young anymore, and yet retained an undeniable old-fashioned beauty. She wore a long, elegant pink dress which went along with a huge pendant around her neck. Her hair was silver, but what really caught Enlar's attention was the color of her eyes: they were a deep, flaming red.

At first too stunned to think coherently, Enlar suddenly understood the identity of that weird woman.

"You… you're Charle. Charle Frahma, right?" She asked, but the words came out as a hoarse croak.

The woman seemed to brighten even more and smiled pleasantly: "Correct, sweetheart. You're so bright! Oh, but what should I have expected?" she went on, now pacing around the room with her hands behind her back: "Rosie's pupil could only be a brilliant, clever and lovely girl like you!"

Enlar eyed her with yet more confusion and she quickly shook her head, seeming worried: "Oh, forgive me! You must be tired and I'm confusing your poor head. It all probably seems nonsense to you. Just rest, don't worry about a thing." She shot her a warm, caring look and went towards the door with small, quick steps.

"Wait…Matthew?" Enlar managed to ask before she left the room. Charle turned once more to face her and smiled again: "The adorable, handsome young man we found with you? He's fine, probably went for a walk around our little town." With that, she left silently.

Enlar watched the door close with a quiet snap and frowned, then just shook her head.

"God." She whispered as she once more buried her face in the pillow. She wanted to make order in her mind, but the pain was back and probably she had been given some sleeping medicine, for her eyelids were growing heavy again.

_I'll think about it in another moment_, she allowed herself to consider, then immediately fell asleep.

* * *

When Charle returned, she found Enlar considerably better. She was sitting upright in the bed, looking out of the oval window on her left.

"It seems that the wound is finally healing! You know, sweetheart, you really were in a bad shape when we found you." Charle said kindly while approaching her. Enlar turned towards her and smiled: "Yes, it's much better now. I must thank you, although I still don't know how we ended up here."

Charle absentmindedly waved a hand and sat beside her: "There's no need to thank me. Your arrival here isn't that much of a mystery: we found the two of you unconscious and badly wounded just outside Ulara, so we brought you here."

Enlar frowned, uncertain: "Near here? But we were fighting in the ruins of the Divine Tree, and if I remember correctly, it's not supposed to be in the vicinity of your town."

But Charle was already nodding her assent: "You're perfectly right. But, you see, you were unconscious and can't possibly remember it. That friend of yours has carried you for a long way in the Death Frontier, trying to reach the forest. Unfortunately, he totally misplaced directions and ended up near our place."

Enlar eyed her with astonishment: "What? _Matthew_ carried me here?"

Charle raised her eyebrows, taken aback by her reaction: "Why, yes. That's exactly what happened. He saved your life: we would never have found you if he hadn't walked that far. Our powers have diminished abysmally, we can no longer feel the presence of all those who traverse the desert. Only the areas closest to Ulara are still under our complete control."

Still stupefied, Enlar lowered her eyes. She found it hard to believe that Matthew had actually risked his own life to save hers. After all, why would he do something like that? He had never hidden his dislike for her, from the very beginning.

"What is it, my dear? Tell me, what troubles you?" Charle enquired, interrupting her thoughts. She merely shook her head and shrugged: "It's nothing."

The woman sighed and rose, her expression suddenly nostalgic: "It's no use, you're just like her. Of course, you smile a little more, but Rose has instilled her very way of being into your young soul."

"What do you mean?" Enlar replied, not knowing whether to feel glad or offended by the comment.

"My dear Rosie has forged you into a warrior, body and soul, just like she is. But you must also remember that there's more in your life than a sword and a fight to win. It's not so unconventional that your comrade has chosen to help you. Things like that happen between friends." Charle lectured her, gently but seriously.

"Friends… I don't know if that's the exact term to define us." Enlar muttered after a while.

Charle shot her an amused glance: "Of course it is. Otherwise, you would be already dead by now. And I suppose the same could be said for Matthew, right?"

"Maybe." Enlar commented, then shrugged: "How do you know about our mission?"

The woman bit her lip, glancing in another direction: "Well, I've always kept an eye on Rosie, so the instant after she returned to this world I perceived her; very feebly, though. I imagine she's no longer completely alive, as much as Zieggy. I used my powers to gain information on the reason of their reappearance, and suddenly understood." Her eyes saddened at those words, her voice became grave.

"Do you know… what this incoming danger may be?" Enlar ventured. From her countenance, it looked like Charle knew something. The woman, however, shook her head: "I've already told your friend what I know, which isn't much. I'm as clueless as you are. What makes me very sad," she went on: "is that this continent, despite having suffered so much, still can't find peace. Not many years have passed since my disgraceful brother caused yet more trouble, as you must know. However, yet another peril will shortly bring chaos in Endiness. Why all of this? Why Soa lets such things happen to his children?"

Enlar stood silent, unsure of what to say. She couldn't really say she understood their situation. She came from a world where things were different: not necessarily better, but still different. Wars exploded only in small areas, for matters of religion or properties. People didn't walk with a sword in hand, didn't have to face crazy wingly dictators which only wanted more power to rule everything. They had grown lazy inside, as Rose had said. One could choose to live a peaceful life, free from worries of any sort. Peaceful as long as some disgrace didn't land in your family, breaking your routine. A disgrace with many names: sometimes cancer, or perhaps famine or a natural calamity; occasionally, simple death by accident or even murder. The true difference was that, back in her world, people no longer cared. Terrible facts like earthquakes, tsunamis or floods were forgotten in a matter of days by those who had been lucky enough to live in another part of the planet. It was always like that: for some time the terrible fact remained on every television channel, _Breaking News_ everywhere, and then, just like that, after some weeks, nothing at all. Vanished into thin air. Maybe people didn't like to think of bad things too much.

_I have to stop getting carried away like this, _Enlar abruptly told herself and forced her attention back to Charle, which still stood by the window.

"And that poor girl," the woman was saying, "that poor girl is yet involved."

"You mean Rose?" Enlar asked, and the second after she felt stupid. Of course it was her, who else?

"Yes, Rosie. She has suffered so much, and still can't rest properly. I feel guilty most of the time about her…" Charle whispered, her voice now tiny and almost inaudible. Enlar shook her head and smiled: "Now she's not so sad anymore. Zieg is by her side, and I bet she actually enjoys having someone to train."

Charle eyed her with a hopeful look: "Really? Oh, if that's true, then life has given her some sort of payback! I'm so happy!"

"I think so, too. She deserves it, after all she's been through." Enlar added with a sad smile.  
"So you know." Charle observed. She glanced at the whole room they were in and sighed: "I wish things had gone differently for her. It was in this very room that she was nursed back to health after the final battle."

"Really?" Enlar asked, her eyes alight with curiosity. She was always eager to ear parts of the story that hadn't been included in the game, especially those regarding Rose's past.

"Yes. After Kadessa's destruction, she was the only dragoon to walk out of there alive. Her conditions, however, were critical both physically and mentally. I… I had always watched her from afar, considering her almost as my child." She paused, her voice broken with emotion: "They all had been important, but Rosie and Zieggy had always retained a special place in my heart. I despised so much my brother and his plans that I was grateful for what they were doing, for the war they were fighting."

Charle sat again by Enlar's side, absentmindedly stroking the blankets with her slender fingers: "Winglies had no right to claim superiority amongst other races. We had magic, of course, but that alone didn't mean anything. That's why, in the end, humans won. After hearing at what cost, though, I immediately went in search of Rose. I knew how deep her love for Zieggy was, and could only imagine how she must had felt in those terrible moments. When I found her, she almost killed me."

Charle shook her head, and Enlar could clearly see tears forming in the corners of her crimson eyes.

"She didn't want to come with me. All she wanted was to die, to die horribly. She said she had no right to live, when her comrades had fallen one after another. Back then, she still didn't know about the Virage Embryo."

Pausing, the woman turned to face Enlar intensely: "And, I swear, I wish she had never even heard about that thing in the first place."

* * *

Rose lay in that bed, still and silent as a corpse. Her mind, however, was a raging bedlam of screams, bloody images and dreadful fights.

That hand slipping away from hers, those last words he had given her.

Then, the empty battlefield. Corpses as far as her eyes could see, both of friends and enemies, not one of them breathing.

And she, alone amidst all that death.

Rose clenched her fists violently, piercing her palms with her nails. She could no longer bear that burden. What sense could her life ever have, without them? Without Zieg?

The door on her left opened and Charle came in, a grave look on her face. Rose didn't even glance at her, deeply concerned in her own mourning. She hated even Charle, because she had stopped her from joining the others.

"Rose."

The woman merely kept looking away, eying morosely out of the window.

"Rose, please. You don't have to-"

"What, Charle? I don't have to feel guilty, destroyed, completely and utterly useless? I couldn't even die properly!" Rose suddenly screamed, turning to face the wingly woman with hatred and anger. Charle could only lower her gaze, ashamed.

"But what do you know? Who are you to judge me?" Rose went on, uncaring of her reaction. She had kept silent ever since Charle had brought her there by force. She had kept within her all of her grief, but now she was fed up.

"You had no right to choose what to do of my life. No one chooses for me, Charle!"

"I just…" the woman barely whispered: "I just wanted to save you. He…your comrades wouldn't want to see you like this. You must live on for them, too, because-"

"Nonsense! Mere words. You can't understand. Nobody will ever understand. And now, leave me alone."

Charle lingered by the door for a moment longer, then sighed: "As you wish."

A few days later, while Charle was taking care of her flowerbeds, Rose stormed in her room. She had completely recovered, at least physically, and had been given permission to walk around the town. Now, however, she was so furious Charle doubted it had been a wise decision.

"Rose, my dear, what on heart-" But she never finished the sentence. Rose unsheathed her rapier, grabbed her dress just underneath her neck and shoved her against the nearby wall.

"Why didn't you tell me?" She hissed, staring coldly into the wingly's eyes. Charle looked at her with wide-eyed terror, unable to say anything.

"Charle! _Why _didn't you tell me!" Rose repeated, this time clenching the hand on the woman's neck considerably.

"A-a-a-about w-what?" Charle stuttered, paralyzed by fear. In that moment, she saw in Rose's eyes the true essence of the Darkness Dragoon, a pure wickedness that flowed through her very veins. Her eyes, so empty and void during those last days, where now alight with anger and hatred. Still, there also was something else: in them Charle glimpsed part of the strong will she had always retained, before losing it completely with Kadessa's battle.

"Don't play innocent with me. You know what I'm referring to." Rose retorted briskly. Charle felt her legs quiver: of course she knew, but it was something Rose couldn't possibly have been told. She had explicitly warned everyone on that matter: it was a secret for her.

"W-wait…let me go, please." She muttered, but Rose stood still: "Will you tell?"

Charle nodded exasperatedly: "Yes, yes! Put back that sword, for Soa's sake!"

Air suddenly filled again her lungs as Rose let go. Charle recoiled hastily, still frightened, and grabbed a nearby armchair for comfort.

"Now, explain." Rose said darkly as she sheathed her rapier. Charle looked at her in anguish, painfully touching her neck: "Who, who told you? It's impossible…I had forbidden…"

The woman smiled wickedly: "That's irrelevant. I just overheard, so you'll have no one to punish. Tell me everything about this Virage Embryo, before I change my mind and take out my sword once more."

Charle sighed, noticed she was still shaking badly and took a seat in the armchair. And then, she explained. About the Virage Embryo, split into body and soul, the latter of which had been dispersed when Melbu's crystal sphere had shattered. About the Moon Child and the Moon that Never Sets, both required for the 108th fruit's birth.

Rose listened carefully, her dark eyes never leaving Charle's crimson ones, then nodded: "I see. How can the birth of such a thing be prevented?"

Charle lowered her gaze, nervously twitching her hands: "Well, it's very difficult…almost impossible for someone to do, and then…"

"Charle." Rose cut in, nearing her once again. However, the wingly woman could see no trace of rage in her now. She had returned the cool, icy warrior she had always been. "Please, tell me."

Charle closed her eyes, struggling not to let those words out, then just gave up.  
"In order to prevent the birth, the Moon Child shall never reach the Moon that Never Sets."

"In other words, it must be killed as soon as it is born." Rose commented, but Charle shook her head: "It's not that simple. It will return again and again, every 108 years, to fulfill its task."

Rose seemed to ponder that last point over, then looked at her firmly: "Fine, I'll take care of it."

Charle rose, horror-stricken: "Oh no, I will never allow something like that! Put that thought out of your head, Rose, because I won't let you."

Rose waved a hand in an impatient gesture: "Don't be silly. Who else could do it? I'm sure you can use your powers to make me immortal or something like that. Then, you won't have to worry about a thing."

Charle, however, kept shaking her head: "No, no, absolutely not. That would mean eternal damnation for you, and I don't want to do something like that!"

Rose neared her and put her hands on her shoulders. She was taller than her, and so she had to lower her head to stare into the wingly's eyes.

"Please don't stop me. Charle, can't you see this is the only thing left for me to do? To preserve Endiness's peace, that peace which my friends have sacrificed themselves to obtain. It is my duty, my punishment for being still alive. And I'll face it with no regrets, as much as it may cost."

Charle stared at her, tears now rolling unstoppable down her cheeks: "Rose, Rosie dear… what have I done…"

Rose shook her head and held her close for a moment longer, silently accepting her fate.

* * *

"And that's how I condemned her." Charle concluded with a sad voice: "I stopped her time, freezing her in an everlasting state of eternal youth so she would always possess the strength to fulfill her task. And that's exactly what she did for eleven thousand years."

Enlar looked down at her blanket. She had always imagined Rose's story, but to hear it from someone who had actually experienced it was nearly heartbreaking. She patted Charle's hand gently, wanting to cheer her up: "It was her decision. True, maybe the only one she could have made, but you can't lay the blame on yourself."

Charle smiled warmly: "Oh, so there's still some tenderness in you. I'm glad Rosie hasn't erased it all."

Enlar shook her head, suddenly serious: "Charle, I'm not Rose. I don't possess even a tenth of her skill, determination and coolness. I would love to, but in the end I can only be myself and pray that's enough."

"Wise words, my dear." Charle commented as she rose. With another look at Enlar's face, she nodded: "You are well enough to stand and tour our town a little. I'm sure your friend will be glad to accompany you." She then added with a smile.

Enlar raised her eyebrows in alarm: "Wait, I can take a walk by myself, there's no need for you to-"

"I'll go and fetch him." Charle replied, and gave her no time to say anything. She left the room as quickly as a running cat.

"Oh, that woman." Enlar sighed in exasperation as she got out of her bed.


	16. Chapter 15

_"The imprint is always there. Nothing is ever really forgotten."_

_ -Terror in the haunted house-_

**Chapter 15**

Matthew looked down at his drink, the first he had seen ever since his arrival in Endiness. Uncertain, he kept the glass carefully balanced between his fingers. Should he try it? That careless decision could have awakened a bad habit he had retained in his world, back when getting drunk had been the only thing he could bring himself to do.

_Hell with it,_ he suddenly thought, and emptied the glass in one gulp. The liquid raced down his throat, a burning pleasure immediately perceived by his body. Matthew closed his eyes, contented. Just one glass, though. More could really get him in trouble, which he absolutely wanted to avoid.

He sighed, wincing slightly at the almost imperceptible pain in his chest. Wingly magic was really outstanding: he and snotty brat had been taken to that spring town just three days before, but their wounds had already healed. That wingly woman, Charle, had told him even snotty brat was fine. Fine, when just a couple days before she had been on the verge of death by blood loss.

Matthew rose from his stool in the wingly pub, longingly glancing for the last time at the bottle, then stepped out of the spiral-like room. Not by using a door, though: he took one of the many green teleports he had in the end got accustomed to. Those things were widely used by the winglies, as he had come to understand while visiting Ulara.

Matthew, however, would rather have preferred a normal doorway. A teleport basically compressed you in a tiny green globe which was then shot towards another teleport, where you regained your original shape. All of that in a matter of seconds.

The first time Matthew had experienced it, his stomach had knotted furiously: seeing his body disappear like that, then feeling that absurd emptiness as the globe flew towards its goal hadn't been pleasant at all. Now it didn't seem so bad, but still.

Matthew reappeared in one of Ulara's beautifully paved roads. Breathing deeply the fresh air, he looked around himself.

That town was the first civilized place he visited in Endiness, and it was by no means similar to the huge cities in his world. It was small, of course, but that didn't really matter. It was the very air of that place, infused with magic and rendered even more pleasant by the flowers' perfume. All those fountains, the gurgling water fresh and limpid; the bizarre but totally charming design of the buildings; everything played a major role in making that place a small piece of heaven. Matthew could have stayed there forever, even only for the peace that reigned amidst those friendly-looking persons.

The winglies, in fact, all behaved nicely towards him. They were gentle and kind, always asking if he needed something or whether he liked their town. It was hard to believe that very race once had enslaved humans in order to rule over everything.

Especially their leader, Charle, had eyed him with particular tenderness. He remembered her from what snotty brat had told him, but he could never have guessed the sister of a dictator could be such a lovely woman.

In that precise moment, as he neared Ulara's plaza, he spotted Charle walking hastily towards him.

"Matthew! Darling, I was looking for you!" She exclaimed as soon as she neared him. Matthew smiled, embarrassed by her maternal way: "Do you need something?"

Charle only widened her smile: "Well, I wanted you to know that your sweet friend is finally up and about! And she's basically_ dying _to see this town a little. I thought you could accompany her, what do you think?" She chirped enthusiastically.

Matthew raised an eyebrow, trying not to seem too irritated by that sudden change in his plans for the evening: "Accompany her? Oh, well, maybe… listen, are you _sure _ she can already walk?" He replied, diverting the question. The last thing he wanted was to spend a thrilling evening with snotty brat in that town, showing her things she could clearly have seen by herself. It would totally ruin his mood.

"Oh, my, I said she can and so she will! I know you're concerned about her health, but you mustn't worry so much." Charle replied, shooting him a knowing glance.

Matthew, within himself, sighed deeply. He would never manage to contradict that woman. The way she eyed him was so deliberate that it seemed she could read his soul, with those crimson eyes of hers.

"If you say so, Charle. I'll be glad to." He said with a resigned tone. Charle laughed and patted his arm: "That's my Matthew. Now, be a gentleman and go find her."

This time, Matthew couldn't help rolling his eyes: "Charle, I think you kind of misplaced the relationship between me and my companion. In mere words, we travel together only because we are forced to. Clear?"

But Charle was already shaking her head: "Don't say such foolishness. You weren't forced to carry her through the whole desert, right?"

Matthew didn't reply, shrugging. Charle sighed, but grabbed him by an arm and pushed him slightly towards her house. With another grunt, he did as he had been told. The pleasure he had obtained with his only drink was now long gone, a mere ghost of bittersweet taste in his throat.

To tell the truth, not even he could have explained why he had chosen to help snotty brat in the first place. Maybe because she had saved his life twice, he pondered; maybe because, upon seeing her unconscious and bloody, he had been reminded of those whom he hadn't been able to save.

Either way, in the end she was alive. Moreover, they had both obtained their dragoon spirits and could now travel safely back to Vellweb.

As these thoughts went through his mind, Matthew raised his head to glance at Charle's impressive house. The building, being the chief's dwelling, was accordingly grand: built on two floors, it was decorated with transparent pinnacles and spires which rendered it even more slender and ethereal. Two small balconies, overflowing with flowers of all species, adorned the front.

It was in one of these that he spotted snotty brat. Charle was right: she was up, and from that perspective looked fine. As she saw them approaching, she left the balcony and went inside. A few instants after, she reappeared in the house's main entrance.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, dear. See, I couldn't find your friend here." Charle said with a smile. Matthew sighed again, this time more audibly, but no one seemed to notice. Snotty brat joined them, trying her best to walk without the least hesitation. Matthew, however, could easily see how she limped slightly every time she moved her hip. She still looked more pale than usual, and her grey eyes seemed somehow bigger.

However, for someone on the brink of death just three days before, she looked great.

"You're finally up, uh?" He muttered, absentmindedly crossing his arms.

She nodded: "Yeah, I'm better now. I was bloody sick of staying in bed all day long."

Matthew nodded in reply, then a dismal silence fell between them. Charle glanced at them, frowning, then suddenly clasped her hands together: "Well, now go and enjoy your walk. You deserve a few moments of peace, after all you've been through."

"Charle…" snotty brat started saying, but the wingly woman didn't let her go on: "Sweetheart, do as I say. You need some fresh air, and Matthew will accompany you." Then, giving them a small pat on their back: "Come on, I'll see you later."

With that said, she turned away from them and entered her house without looking back.

* * *

Matthew started walking immediately after, and all Enlar could do was follow him. She still didn't know how to behave with him: she wanted to thank him, but was certain he would only mock her even further if she attempted. Her mind, however, got quickly diverted from that matter by Ulara's beauty. That place, already beautiful with the old graphics of her PlayStation, in reality became something inexplicable. It was nearly dusk, and the setting sun gave the wingly town an out of time atmosphere. Everything was so beautiful, from the buildings to the very stones that paved the road, that she felt stunned by it all.

When they reached a small plaza, at the center of which stood a large fountain filled with flowers, Enlar stopped. She immersed a hand in the fresh water, and immediately after small circles started forming around her thin wrist. Caressing one of the nearby flowers, Enlar turned to look at Matthew. He was standing beside her, apparently engrossed with analyzing a particular plant on his left.

"You know, there's no need for you to accompany me. Just leave me here, I'll be fine on my own." She said at last, sighing deeply.

Surprisingly, Matthew laughed: "Leave you here? Sure, then Charle will be free to slaughter me. No, you'll have your walk, just as requested."

Enlar watched him, speechless. Maybe for the first time, he had told her something without being sarcastic or mocking. His apparent good mood gave her courage, so after a while she ventured: "Matthew, why did you-"

He, however, immediately shot her an warning glance: "Don't. There's no need for you to trouble yourself with that matter. Content yourself with knowing that you're still alive."

Enlar lowered her head, slightly frustrated: that was more his way.

"I see." She simply said, still touching the water with her hand.

Matthew took a few steps away from her, towards a flowerbed in the back, then shrugged: "Besides, it was just for the mission's sake."

This actually made Enlar smile: "Oh, right. That's probably the most appropriate answer."

"Of course it is." he retorted. "Anyway, you sure took your time to get up. I was beginning to miss you." He then added ironically.

"There, I was starting to think you had run out of jokes." Enlar commented with a sigh.

Matthew turned once again to face her, grinning: "What? You thought I was done with making fun of you? Think again, snotty brat."

Enlar removed her hand form the fountain and sat on a wood bench nearby, shaking her head: "Sure, just as I thought. Can you please tell me what Charle said about our mission?"

Matthew frowned, taken aback, then understood and shrugged: "Not so much. The only relevant thing she says is that, in her opinion, when the time comes we'll be the only ones able to prevent total annihilation. But not just because we're awesome: simply because we're from another world, and that will grant us protection."

"Protection?" Enlar repeated doubtfully: "Protection from what?"

"That part she didn't explain." Matthew concluded, shaking his head. "After all," he went on: "it's just a feeling she has. She said not to rely on it too much."

Enlar bit her lip, concerned: "It doesn't make sense. I wish I could understand more of this incoming danger."

"We'll just have to wait." Matthew replied matter-of-factly. Then, resuming a serious countenance, he took out the Red-Eyed dragoon spirit from one of his pockets and held it high. The stone shone quietly, its red light strongly glowing in his hand.

"It's unbelievable…" he whispered, staring at it with stupor: "To think that we managed to kill that Virage with our newly acquired powers! And we had no experience whatsoever."

Enlar grabbed her own dragoon stone and held it close to her chest. A faint dark light immediately lit it, reflecting itself on her pale features.

"Yes, the spirits gave us power, but we have to be careful with them. Remember what Rose and Zieg said? They feed on our emotions. The stronger they are, the greater the power unleashed." She said, pondering aloud.

_And also what they drain from us,_ her mind added immediately after. It was true: ever since she had awakened, she felt almost emptied. Not physically: her strength was slowly returning, and after all she had given her body time to rest. No, it was her mind that felt weary. When she had asked Charle about it, she had been told that it was something completely normal: she had used all of her powers to turn into a dragoon, fight and unleash her first spell. Especially with the latter, Enlar had strained her mind to the utmost; Charle had said she probably wouldn't be able to use her dragoon spirit for a few days.

Now, with the dragoon stone in her hand, she felt how weak her powers were. Next time, she would have to be more careful.

Enlar, however, didn't think it necessary for Matthew to be aware of her actual state. In any case, their trip back to Vellweb would probably be easy and with no troubles. There would be no need for her dragoon spirit.

She suddenly looked up, noticing the silence that had fallen unnoticed in the small plaza. Matthew was staring at her, frowning: "Hey, are you even listening?"

Enlar realized she had probably been lost in thought for a while and shook her head: "I'm sorry, what were you saying?"

Matthew rolled his eyes and sighed: "Nothing. Listen, are we going to stay here till dawn?"

"No, of course not. Let's go." Enlar replied and stood up briskly. As soon as she moved, however, her hip sent her a piercing pain and she couldn't help herself grimacing. She laid a hand on the still damaged spot, trying to settle her racing heart.

"Maybe you should return inside." Matthew said, eying her carefully.

"It's nothing." Enlar managed to say through gritted teeth. Breathing deeply, she took a few steps towards him and nodded: "C'mon, let's have this damned walk."

Matthew gave her a doubtful look, then shrugged: "As you wish."

They both went down the paved road, each of them pondering deeply, albeit on different things.

* * *

The following morning, they were ready to go. Charle didn't want them to leave so soon, but both Enlar and Matthew were irremovable on the subject. They wanted to return to Vellweb as soon as possible: there was still a part of training ahead of them, and they felt the time they had been given to get ready was beginning to run short.

"Are you really sure you want to go?" Charle asked them again as she led them towards the town's main teleport. Enlar nodded: "Yes, don't worry. We can't afford to waste any more time. Zieg and Rose must be waiting for us."

"I see." Charle acquiesced, giving them a sad smile: "I wish I could help you more, but I can only teleport you nearby the Evergreen. Our powers have grown so weak that soon we won't even manage something simple like that." She lowered her head, her tone bitter: "And to think that once our cities flew high in the sky…"

Shaking her head, she forced herself to smile once again: "Enough. This is not the time to mourn on the winglies' long lost past."

Matthew smiled slightly: "Even sending us near the forest will spare us lots of efforts. You know, I've already come to hate that desert." They laughed briefly, still walking towards the edge of the town. Soon, they reached the teleport and stopped, turning to look at Charle.

"Well, my dear warriors," the woman said taking their hands: "I guess this is the time for a farewell."

"Thanks for everything, Charle. Without you, our mission would have drastically come to an end." Enlar replied with a smile. Matthew, holding firmly the wingly woman's hand, could only agree: "I have to say that, at least this time, she's right."

"Oh, you two embarrass me. I only did what I had to. Now, off you go! And behave yourselves." Charle chuckled upon letting their hands go.

They nodded and stepped on the teleport. As green light surrounded them, Charle once more gave them a last, reassuring smile: "And give Rosie and Zieggy my blessing. I wish I could have seen them together again, just once."

Enlar smiled again: "It will be done. Farewell, Charle."

Their bodies disappeared immediately after and a green globe darted towards the desert, in the Evergreen's direction.

Charle watched them fly away with nostalgia, recalling Rose's departure from that same place thousands of years ago.

Those two youngsters were so similar to her beloved warriors, even though they still didn't know it. They were young and full of hopes, ready to face whatever ordeals fate would put in their way.

As Charle watched the green globe disappear into the distance, another wingly approached her. She gently laid a hand on her shoulder, her blue dress moving slightly in the morning's breeze: "Will they be alright?"

"I hope so, Miata." Charle said: "They are our world's only hope, it seems. Let us pray Soa and ask for a safe journey. Eventually, our wish will be granted."

Miata nodded and gazed at the horizon. The two women stood there, together, and when the globe disappeared entirely they went back to their former occupations.

* * *

Enlar and Matthew reappeared in the desert, and for a moment the latter thought Charle had simply made fun of them. Still, as soon as he opened his eyes, he found himself staring at the southern entrance of the Evergreen just a few feet ahead of him.

"Thank God, we don't have to cross that misbegotten desert all over again!" He exclaimed with triumph.

"That would have been terrible." Enlar agreed as they hurried towards the first trees. The shade that welcomed them, although still slim, was greatly appreciated. If not for their stay in Ulara, Matthew believed he would have gone crazy with all that sun.

In a good mood, they both set off along the forest path. With every step they took, the climate around them became more tolerable: they were once again entering Mille Seseau's wintery territory. They didn't talk much, although Matthew soon noticed that snotty brat struggled to keep his pace. She wasn't fully healed, and she knew it: nevertheless, she didn't utter a word on being tired. She didn't even ask him to slow down a little.

Not even knowing why he cared, Matthew imperceptibly decelerated his steps. It wasn't much, but she managed to get along more easily without really being aware of what had happened.

_It's just that I don't want her dying on me again,_ he told himself in response of his action.

Soon evening came, and with that a chilly wind howling from the northern mountains. They stopped and lighted a fire, relishing its warmth on their skin. As they sat around the flames, silently consuming their dried meat, snotty brat suddenly met his eyes: "Can I ask you something?"

Matthew merely nodded, feeling too tired to be harsh: that day of walking had drained all of his energies, too.

"Don't you miss our world?" She said, looking straight into his eyes.

He shot her a glare: "Not at all. Given the choice, I would never go back."

Snotty brat raised an eyebrow: "Don't get angry, I was only asking. Why?"

Matthew grunted, then looked elsewhere: "There are things… things that can't be erased in that world. Things that haunt you night and day, that never leave you alone. Here, it's different."

She looked down at the fire, perplexed: "I don't think so. One person's burdens always remain, no matter the place. To forget them is just a mere illusion, for the imprint always remains."

"How can you say that? How can you judge without knowing?" Matthew retorted angrily. Even thought he kept telling himself not to be mad at her, he couldn't help it. She had no right to say such things, especially because she was only a snotty brat. What could she know of the world, of burdens?

"You know, you're not the only one with a hard life, back there." She said after a while, looking stricken.

"Did you see people die?" Matthew snapped, standing and nearing her. "Did you witness your family's destruction, your loved ones' agony?"

They were now so near that their faces almost touched. As soon as Matthew uttered those words, though, Enlar's eyes filled with grief and sorrow. She stood perfectly still, staring at him, then turned away and lay on the ground without another sound.

Matthew looked at her turned back for an instant, then returned to his former place and sat again. Burying his face between his hands, he struggled to calm down.

But try as he may, the past had been summoned once again. There was nothing he could do to banish it, and as always it had been her fault.

Clenching his fists so hard that his knuckles became white, he too lay down. Without a titanic effort, he closed his eyes and tried to sleep.

To his great surprise, he found no difficulty and soon drifted into the land of dreams.

* * *

_He was in his room again, listening to music while lying on his bed. For a moment he found it odd, but the feeling immediately passed. It was just another ordinary day of his lazy existence: nothing to do, perhaps hanging out with his friends later. _

_The door on his right sprang open and Rachel, his eight-years-old sister, came in running. She threw herself on his bed, a huge smile on her small face: "Matt, Matt! You know what? Eh? You know?"_

_Smiling, Matthew grabbed her waist and hugged her: "Little monster, if you don't tell me, how can I possibly know what you're talking about?"_

_Rachel laughed cheerfully, her loud voice echoing as a thousand chimes in his head: "I found a kitten! He was standing just by our gate, looking sad. Mommy says we can keep it!"_

"_Does she? That's wonderful news!" Matthew replied caressing her long, curly blonde hair. Rachel gave him another flashing smile and went on praising her newly found friend. Matthew listened, holding his sister close. He loved her dearly, would probably throw his life away for her: sometimes he thought she was the only reason that kept him there, in his house. _

"_Will you come and see it, Matt? We must give him a name!" Rachel said, suddenly tugging his hand vehemently. _

_With a small, ironic sigh, Matthew stood up: "Fine, let's go see this kitten."_

"_Yeah! You're the best, big brother." The child replied enthusiastically. They went together in the kitchen, and as soon as they entered Rachel ran towards a small, fluffy little thing and held it in his arms proudly. She handed it to Matthew, grinning: "So, isn't he beautiful?"_

"_Sure, he's totally awesome." Matthew replied, caressing the kitten's small head._

_Suddenly, they heard steps coming from the garden and the second after a small woman entered the room. She was a middle-aged, sharp woman with huge black eyes and an already graying hair. Their mother._

"_Rachel," she began with her slightly hoarse voice: "I've already told you not to touch it before we make sure he isn't affected by some parasite or something."_

"_Oh, but mommy, he's so cute and adorable!" Rachel chirped, holding the kitten even closer. _

At this rate, she's gonna strangle it_, Matthew thought wryly. _

"_Yes, sure. But first we'll have to wash it." The woman retorted. Then, eying Matthew as if she had noticed him just in that moment: "Have you cleaned your room?"_

_Matthew grunted, turning away from her: "I had no time."_

_His mother shot him an angry glare: "And did you cut the wood for the stove? We need that wood!"_

"_I had no time." Matthew repeated again, rather harshly this time. It was always like that: his mother seemed to be born only to make him mad with her constant requests. Obviously, he could have done all the things she asked, but then? She would keep bitching on something else, never even muttering a word of thanks._

_In the meanwhile, she neared him and grabbed his wrist: "And did you fix the stove, in the first place? What if it stops working altogether?"_

_This time, Matthew turned briskly and freed his wrist with a brusque gesture: "Mom, I haven't done _anything. _Will you please shut up? Your voice will make my head ache."_

_His mother widened her eyes in anger and tried to grab him again: "What! You stupid, uncaring and shameful boy! How many times do I have to tell you that you can't go on living like this, acting as a parasite? Aren't you ashamed of yourself?"_

"_Yeah, sure." He muttered under his breath as he quickly approached the door._

"_Are you listening to me, Matthew? Are _you _listening?" His mother shouted from behind him._

"_Please stop!" Rachel suddenly cried. Both Matthew and her mother turned to face her, taken aback._

"_Stop! Hearing you like that makes me sick! I don't want you to argue!" She was nearly crying now, her tiny voice broken by sobs. In her arms, the kitten meowed weakly._

"_Don't worry, we'll stop right now." Matthew said after a moment. Turning away, he opened the front door and left, closing it with a thud._

"_Matthew! Where are you going, you disgraceful son?"_

"_Matthew!" He heard Rachel cry through the open window._

"_Matthew!"_

"_Matthew!"_

"_Matthew!"_

"_Matt-_

* * *

"Matthew! Wake up!"

Matthew blinked, still half asleep and in the middle of his dream. Above him, he saw snotty brat's pale face and suddenly remembered. Still, his mind found it hard to focus. He closed his eyes once more and let out a sigh, then rose to a sitting position.  
"Are you alright, Matthew?"

_Matt._

"You were talking in your sleep, and you didn't seem to wake up, so I-"

_Big brother._

"I'm fine, don't you worry." He said at last, shaking his head. Snotty brat fell silent, then stood and went to arrange her belongings.

Watching her, Matthew was reminded of their brief discussion from the night before. No wonder he had had that dream, given what she had awakened in his mind. He also remembered having said something that had hurt her, so much that she hadn't even replied. Still, he didn't want to apologize. She deserved it for having brought back such thoughts.

Rising, he noticed that it was already a little past dawn: he had overslept, dragged into that nightmare from his past. Thank God she had woken him up, or else that fight with his mother would have been the least terrible thing to remember.

They resumed their walk in the forest without another word. This time, Matthew didn't care much whether his pace was too hard for snotty brat to follow. He went on uncaringly, almost as if going faster would let him escape more easily the shadows of what he didn't want to remember.

They ended up covering a great distance, that day. In the end, however, snotty brat simply stopped: "Matthew, I can't take much more of this."

He turned to face her and was almost frightened by her look: she was even paler than the day before, her breath heavy and her forehead dripping with sweat. Matthew even felt a small pang of guilt: snotty brat would never have told him something like that in another situation. She hated to show her weakness, that much was clear to him. She had probably run out of every energy she had left in her body and could by no means go on anymore.

Looking around, he nodded: "Then let's stop here for today."

With an almost inaudible sigh snotty brat sat beneath a huge tree, resting the back of her head on the hard wood. Seeing that there was perhaps still another hour of light, Matthew threw her a glance: "I'm going to get some wood and possibly something edible. Wait here."

She nodded, still as a corpse. With a sigh Matthew left the forest path and ventured himself in the depths of the Evergreen.


	17. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

Enlar closed her eyes, relishing every second of her stay under that tree. Her hip hurt badly: even though the wound was nothing more than a seemingly fresh scar, the pain she sometimes felt inside was still atrocious. Walking all day long at an exhausting pace didn't help, either.

Grimacing, she laid a hand on the damaged spot beneath her armor. Asking for Matthew to stop had been necessary, something her body had imperiously demanded without leaving space for any protest coming from her mind.

With a sigh, she shook her head. He had been in such a terrible mood since his awakening that she didn't even know how she should feel. Hurt, perhaps, after what he had told her the night before without really knowing.

Still, the things he had said in his sleep had touched her: he had been calling for someone, probably a cherished person, with so much misery and despair that she had felt the urge to wake him up. Now, for some reason, Enlar didn't feel so angry anymore. Saddened by the turn the things had taken, she sighed once more.

The forest around her was lively: countless birds chirped from the treetops, sometimes flying from a place to the other with grace and speed. Yet, their singing wasn't the only sound audible: Enlar fancied she could hear water running in the distance, just on the right of the forest path.

_A cool rinse would be heaven, right now,_ she thought longingly. Adventuring herself in the trees to find out whether there really was a river nearby, however, seemed something too big for her tired body. Besides, Matthew had said to wait there. He would be back soon.

Still, the gurgling water's sound taunted her, unmistakable now that her ears had identified it.

_It won't take long, I bet the river's just behind a couple trees._

"Fine," Enlar muttered aloud, frightening a small robin that had found a comfortable place on her shoulder. Rising painfully to her feet, she looked around briefly. Not a soul could be seen along the path: only birds and some annoying mosquitoes that had started showing up with sunset's impending arrival.

Without hesitating, she quietly started walking in the opposite direction Matthew had taken. As soon as she left the rough trail they had been following ever since leaving the Death Frontier, the shadows became thicker. Tall trees and waist-high bushes blocked the way, but Enlar nonetheless managed to get through.

There, the air was somewhat chillier and heavier, since not even a single ray of sun managed to pierce the lusty foliage above her.

Soon, the sound of water became stronger. Hastening her steps, finding a bit more energy in her tired legs, Enlar pushed onward till she ended up right in front of a small river.

Smiling, she knelt beside the clear water and rinsed her forehead: it was icy, but it felt immensely refreshing on her sweaty skin.

Removing swiftly her armor, Enlar sat on the river's edge with only her underwear on and then rinsed quickly but efficiently. Her hip was slightly swollen, but the freezing water at least soothed the pain.

In the meanwhile, an owl hooted in the distance.

Enlar shot a glance at the sky and noticed it was already getting dark. The Moon that Never Sets was already glowing brightly, looking down at her.

_I have to return to the path,_ she thought suddenly. Matthew could already be back, maybe wondering where the hell she had gone.

Enlar stood and dressed again, shivering in the cool air. Just before she could turn away from the river and return to the path, however, a sound stopped her.

Frowning, she froze in place and listened carefully. To her, it had seemed a loud crash similar to those that could be heard in her world in a car accident. Slowly, carefully retracing her steps, she headed back without delay. The noise seemed to have come directly from the trail, and that could mean trouble.

When a scream pierced the silence, she stopped again. For a second she thought she heard a woman's voice, but then everything fell silent again. Enlar unsheathed her rapier and sneaked through the trees, her tiredness forgotten. Every single nerve in her body was pretty much awake and responsive, as if it felt some unknown incoming danger.

Then, before she could even realize it, Enlar was back on the edge of the path again.

What she saw before her made her heart race furiously: just a few feet from where they had decided to camp stood what remained of a wooden cart. It had been almost torn apart: many pieces were scattered around, burning.

Just beside the cart stood a woman. She, however, didn't resemble any creature Enlar had ever seen in her short life.

Her hair was light blue, held in a high ponytail which fell down almost to her knees. She was tall, her slender body clad in a white, ethereal-like suit. Her right hand was clenched on the throat of a wingly, which she held lifted from the ground with seemingly no effort.

"So you're a wingly. I've always wanted to see one of them…" She said, and even her voice echoed in the forest like a chant. Enlar watched her with disbelief, sensing the immense power that flowed from her body. Under her grip the wingly struggled and moaned, but to no avail. With a smile, the woman suddenly threw him against a tree. His skull collided with the hard wood, splitting in two: the wingly died without uttering a sound.

"And you claimed to be the superior race? What a pity!" She spat, cleaning her hand on her candid vest. Suddenly, from the trees on her left, came a loud cry. The second after, a child jumped out of a bush and threw himself towards the wingly's corpse: "Daddy! No!"

The woman smirked, and with uncanny speed caught the small wingly before he could reach his unlucky father-

"So, you know that, by doing something so stupid, you've just doomed your poor existence?" She asked him mockingly. The child kept crying and struggling: "No, leave me! You killed my daddy! You are _mean_, you-"

"Shut your mouth." The woman uttered upon letting him fall. He landed on his back and screamed, both in fear and pain. She raised a hand, smiling again, and placed it just in front of the child's face: "Say hello to your father for me."

A globe of blue light began to form in her palm. With a loud laugh, she threw it against the weeping wingly with no hesitation.

An instant after, the globe collided with a nearby tree, obliterating it immediately.

The woman frowned, then found herself staring into Enlar's eyes. She stood there, her sword drawn, protecting the child with her body.

"Oh, my. And who might you be?"

Enlar fixed her grey eyes into the woman's gold ones, holding her rapier compulsively.

_What am I doing? _She feverishly asked herself. As soon as she had seen that child running out of the bushes, she had completely lost control of her actions. She couldn't witness another slaughter without doing anything, especially not that of an innocent child. So she had carelessly jumped out of her safe position and had hit the blue globe with her sword, diverting its direction.

Now, however, she understood she was facing a problem far too big for her to handle.

_Stupid, stupid girl. And you can't even use your dragoon spirit._

The woman raised an eyebrow: "So? Who are you, human, to jump out of nowhere and forestall this being's annihilation?"

"Leave him alone." Enlar said, hoping to leave all of her fears out of her voice.

The woman laughed, sending a thousand chills down her spine: "Behold, a hero! Why, why are all the creatures of this place so stupid?" She then shot her a menacing glare: "Out of my way, lady. Leave this place before I change my mind, and let me finish what I have started."

Enlar shook her head: "I won't let you kill him."

The woman sighed, shaking her head: "Humans…" Then, raising her hand again, she summoned a blade of light and launched herself towards Enlar. Taken aback, the girl was barely able to block the first strike with her own blade. The second after, their swords started colliding and parting in a blur, moving ceaselessly in a ferocious fight. Enlar, however, immediately got proof of her fears: she was only defending, and found no space at all to reply to the woman's assaults; she, on the other hand, was clearly only playing with her. Besides, Enlar felt her body tremble and lose vigor at each hit: she had already been strained to begin with, she absolutely had no chance whatsoever of defeating her.

Almost as if reading her mind, the woman smirked and doubled her speed. In a matter of seconds Enlar's rapier went flying, and she remained unarmed. With a quick gesture, the woman summoned another globe of light and threw it against her abdomen.

Enlar crashed against a tree with a weak scream of agony. She ended up right near the corpse of the wingly, his blood forming a pool around his smashed skull. With a quick leap, the woman approached her and immobilized her with a single hand, just as she had done with the wingly only a few minutes before.

"And don't tell me I didn't give you the chance to escape." The woman told her with a soft smile. Enlar tried to move, but she was paralyzed. With that hand clenched on her throat, she couldn't even breathe properly. In despair, she summoned her dragoon spirit's power: the stone, however, didn't emanate the slightest bit of energy.

_Damn. What now? _

She raised her hands and tried to free herself from the woman's grip. Those fingers, however, were like iron claws: Enlar could only struggle in vain before letting her own arms fall again.

_You truly are a fool, _she told herself with a last hint of consciousness.

The woman leaned closer to her face, which was already losing all of its color: "Maybe that will teach you not to get involved in things that don't concern you. So you'll never repeat the mistake." Then, adding another vicious smile: "In another life, of course."

* * *

Matthew was just about to go back with what he had found when he heard the sound. Startled, he carelessly let some wood chunks fall from his hands. That sound had seemed almost like a collision, something odd in a lonely place like that.

Picking up the chunks, Matthew looked in the path's direction. Was snotty brat still resting under that tree? It was getting dark, he should return to her and ask if she had heard that noise, too. For that day, he had been cruel enough; straining her could be considered the appropriate punishment for what she had made him remember.

He headed back, not so much worried about the situation. Probably it had only been his imagination, after all.

Matthew kept believing that till he heard the scream. Then, the wood forgotten, he drew his broadsword and started running towards the path. Was it snotty brat?

_What the hell could have happened?_ He hastily thought as he avoided low tree branches and rocks. He hadn't ventured himself too far from the path, so he returned there in just a couple minutes. Upon seeing some unknown figure, however, he immediately hid behind a huge tree and kept his distance, observing.

Before him, a woman beyond description was holding a weeping wingly child lifted from the ground. She looked like a preternatural being, with that blue hair and those gold-looking eyes. Matthew held his breath as she suddenly let the child fall; that woman emanated a giant energy, but also an abysmal wickedness.

Concerned, Matthew threw a glance under the tree where he had left snotty brat.

She wasn't there.

_Oh, shit. _He silently cursed scanning the area around him. She'd better be hiding, because if that woman had already got her…

His doubts were suddenly dissipated.

Snotty brat jumped out of nowhere and threw herself between the woman and the child, blocking a weird globe of light which had been directed towards the kid's face.

It, instead, diverted towards his hideout. Widening his eyes at his incoming destruction, Matthew barely found the time to roll in the high grass and hide behind another tree. The spot where he had been standing exploded and the previous tree turned to ashes.

Speechless, he turned to see snotty brat facing that living death machine, her rapier in hand.

He couldn't believe it. She was going to fight her. Alone.

_You stupid, fool, careless snotty brat! You'll kill yourself!_ He shouted in his mind. How could she have done something so stupid? She, the one always bitching on being careful and on your toes and all of that bullshit?

_No, this isn't really happening, _he repeated like a mantra over and over, even closing his eyes to add more consistency to his idea.

When he reopened them, though, snotty brat was still there. And they were fighting. That woman, indeed, had drawn a blade of light from God knew where and was unleashing all of her fearsome skills on his poor companion. A companion who was clearly in serious problems, as he immediately understood. Now her graceful speed, which had helped her so much during their duel at Vellweb, was ridiculed by the woman's blurry moves. She only managed to parry some hits, but soon her opponent got tired of that game and abruptly unarmed her.

Matthew watched her rapier fly with horror, realizing she was done for. The moment after, the woman created another globe of light and snotty brat was hurled against a tree. Nearby, Matthew spotted the corpse of a dead wingly.

The woman didn't waste time and immobilized her, nailing her to the tree with a single hand.

Matthew gritted his teeth and punched the ground beside him.

_Damn, why did you have to become so stupid all of a sudden? Use your dragoon spirit, for heaven's sake!_

But snotty brat didn't use her new powers. She didn't do anything at all: just once, she attempted to free herself by weakly trying to force the woman's fingers open, but to no avail.

After that single effort, she stood still. The woman whispered something inaudible right in snotty brat's face, then raised her free hand in another menacing gesture.

Matthew felt his hands tremble with anger and dismay.

She was going to die right in front of him, and there was nothing he could do.

_Oh, no. There _is_ something you can do. _

_Yes, go and suicide myself_, the rational part of his mind commented. Yet, as he struggled within himself, he came to understand that he couldn't let her get killed like that. He had to try, and perhaps die in the attempt. Aside all of their quarrels, they were a team. And in a team, the members helped each other.

Matthew closed his eyes and this time didn't lose even a second in pondering over his past, the tragedies caused by the power that he now could harness or whatever.

Flames simply burst out from his body: in a mere instant he was in his dragoon form, charging towards the woman with blind rage but also undying will. With the gushing flames that appeared around his body he suddenly formed a huge fireball. Rising high, he hurled it towards the woman with all his strength, delivering a massive, infernal spell.

The woman, taken aback by the sudden assault, let snotty brat go and placed both hands before her. The fireball collided with a white barrier, which absorbed its power in a matter of seconds. Screaming in rage, Matthew threw himself against her and unchained a series of explosions while hitting her with his broadsword. The woman candidly blocked every single hit, but at least got diverted long enough for snotty brat to get away from behind her. She ran to get her weapon back, but as soon as she got hold of her rapier Matthew stopped attacking and grabbed her by the waist.

"What-" She uttered, but Matthew didn't even let her finish. He flew high in the sky, delivering the both of them to safety. The woman sent a huge beam of light after them, but then stopped her assault altogether.

_She's letting us go,_ Matthew couldn't help considering. He was certain that, if only she had wanted, she could have chased them even up there.

"Matthew…" Snotty brat said weakly.

"Silence. Have you gone completely nuts? I mean, look at the mess you've done!"

He retorted without even glancing at her.

"…you're crushing me." She could only mutter.

Matthew realized he was holding her too tightly and lightened his grip: "I can't believe this, how could you…"

She didn't answer. Matthew kept flying until his strength allowed him, then he landed in a small clearing. Judging from their speed, they were now a lot closer to Vellweb than before.

He let her go, then reverted to his human shape. An immense weariness got hold of him, but he willed it away. He wanted to have his say, no matter what.

Eying snotty brat with anger, he attacked her: "Do you realize it's a pure miracle we're still alive?"

She lowered her eyes, looking hurt: "Matthew, please. I only wanted to help that child."

"Help that child, sure." He replied mockingly, raising his hands: "And get us both killed in the process. What a wonderful plan!" He shook his head, clenching his fists: "What about that grand talk on being careful? Eh? You threw away all of your caution and jumped into an unwinnable fight! And why, in the name of God, didn't you use your dragoon spirit?"

"Because I couldn't!" She snapped in both anger and frustration: "My powers have run dry ever since the fight with the Virage. And I admit it, I've been a fool," she added, eying him intensely: "but I only acted carelessly because I wanted to save a life. You did something stupid, too, and with no reason whatsoever! So stop lying all the blame on me."

"Oh, listen to her!" Matthew exclaimed with a smirk: "Poor, poor snotty brat. Do you want a hug?"

She glared at him: "You…would you have let that child die?"

Matthew neared her, shaking his head: "Not if the enemy had been a common idiot. But that woman, she's as normal as I'm a cute cheerleader. We can't throw away our lives to save a single one!" Then, diminishing his tone of voice slightly: "That's reality, as horrible as it may seem."

She lowered her eyes again, sighing: "I know. Look, I'm sorry. Thanks for what you did."

Matthew turned away from her, hastily regaining his distance: "Don't be. I didn't want to, it was my silly conscience which persuaded me. Now, rest. You and your damned ideas."

Snotty brat did as she had been told. Matthew sighed and lay on the cold soil, remaining wide awake for a long time. The only positive thing in all of that was their new position: the following day they would probably reach Vellweb, shortening their journey considerably. Then, who knew what Rose and Zieg would say?

Matthew waited, but sleep didn't come. He stood still, listening to snotty brat's light breath, still incredulous of being alive after what he had faced.


End file.
